My Guardian
by CrystalMoonKiss
Summary: Roy is sent to a secret mission where he has to prove thats someone is using prisoners in their experiments. However, he might find that the reality is even more terrible when he meets a special kid over there. Parental!RoyEd, AU.
1. Prologue

"**My guardian"**

'**Prologue'**

"I'm beginning to feel claustrophobic, you know?"

Roy sighed and run his hand through his hair as he threw himself in the chair lazily. The man just did 'Mm' sounds at the arguments of the woman in the line that was telling him why he had to do this. Of course he knew why he had to this, he saw the reason every day, but he was really tired of this.

"You cannot come home until you buy me the ring", Riza told him writing some things down in a paper.

The man sighed again, that meant that he couldn't leave the place until he had some solid proof.

"Yeah, yeah, I think I'm near to choice the best one from the catalog"

"Good, I'll call you tomorrow them"

The man hung up the phone and stared at the sky through the window for a moment. He had been sent to this mission two months ago already and he knew he was close to find the truth. 'Just hold on for a little more…at least do it for him'.

A knock at the door took the man out of this thoughts and he rose to open it and find a woman at the other side with a white coat and the name 'Dr. Lyra' embroidered on it.

"Good morning, Dr. Mustang", she said with a big smile, "We're going to begin with the experiments of the day"

The man nodded grateful for the announcement and grabbed his white coat as he followed the woman through the corridor with his eyes directed to the floor and putting his hands inside his pockets. Both walked silent until they reached a door which leaded to the experiment's room. It was a totally white place which smelled as a hospital or Roy thought it did.

One of the men raised his hand to greet him, "Good morning, Dr. Mustang"

"Good morning Dr. Marcoh, Dr.Knox"

Both men nodded greeting Roy and they sat at the table as they opened some books and began to discuss some substances while the dark-haired man heard all the conversation quite bored. However, he tried to look as he was finding everything so interesting and read some of the books as he mixed some liquids.

He didn't know how many hours they were like that, but Roy was trying to hide how exasperated he was and held back his thousandth yawn, he hated those days. It liked it better when they went out to the gardens and experimented with alchemy since he was an expert in that area.

Suddenly, a young woman knocked at the glass door and opened it excusing herself, "Dr. Marcoh, L001 is kind of…out of control today"

The man raised a brow, "Meaning?"

"He doesn't want to cooperate; I think his is in a bad mood"

"Well, that doesn't matter, you'll have to force him"

The woman bit her lip and moved impatient, "He just don't want, Doctor"

Marcoh glanced at his friend, Dr. Knox trying to find some support on him. The man rose and grabbed a book, "And did he say why he doesn't want to cooperate?"

"Yes, he said that this is supposed to be his free day and wants to play chess with Dr. Mustang"

Roy raised his head surprised but relieved at the same time; that could mean his salvation to get out of there and do something more interesting.

Marcoh sighed, "OK, let's give him his free day and take Dr. Mustang with him"

She nodded and Roy rose as he followed her through the hallway. He fight hard to hide his smile since playing chess with him was away more fun than reading medical books. Soon they reached a door and she opened it stepping aside.

Roy entered the room which was completely white too, including the furniture. He always thought that he wouldn't be able to sleep there if it was his room, it was just disturbing. The man took at seat in one of the chairs as he waited for someone to come tapping his fingers.

Finally, someone opened a door in front of him and he turned drawing a smirk amused. In front of him, it was a 10 years old blond boy walking towards him as he braided his hair quickly since he wasn't expecting him to come that fast.

"Hey there, they told me you were crying because nobody wanted to play chess with you", he said opening the chessboard.

"Don't be so full of yourself, I know that you were dying from boredom with the doctors, I just saved you", the boy said with a smirk too as he took a seat in front of him.

Roy just grabbed the pieces too put them in their place, "Yeah, yeah. How have you been? I hadn't seen you since 3 days"

The man noticed how the boy's golden eyes almost turned dull at the question, "Fine as always, I think"

The blonde moved one of his pawns removing some golden locks from his face as Roy did his move, "Why did you want to play chess with me? I thought you didn't like me"

"I don't", the boy said leaning on his chair, "But anybody else here can play as good as you and I like challenges"

Roy moved one of his pieces and smirked, "I'm flattered that an alchemy genius thinks I'm a good challenger"

"….You're such an arrogant man"

"And proud of it"

The boy placed a hand on his chin as he analyzed the position of the pieces and moved a Knight. Roy stared at the boy for a moment, the blonde was quite curious. He hated all the doctors there and he was _supposed_ to be one of them…so, why the boy continuously called him to play chess, cards or just talk?

"Can I ask you something?", the boy suddenly asked him as the boy slightly jumped and nodded, "Why do you trust me?"

The blonde looked at him surprised by the question, but then lowered his eyes to the chessboard, "Because the others doctors don't trust you"

Well, that was an interesting answer, "And why do you think they don't trust me?"

"Dr. Knox came here recently and Dr. Marcoh let him go inside the special section of the building almost immediately. After a two months, they hadn't let you go with them", the boy said as it wasn't a big deal and drank some water.

Roy, in the other hand, frowned, "Why do they take you with them? Because you're a genius?"

The boy looked up and smirked, "A lot of questions today, don't you think? You know I'm not allowed to talk to you about that"

The man sighed in resignation and moved a bishop as the boy hit the table with his fist angrily for the movement. "I've known you for a month now, at least you could tell me your name"

He almost dropped the pawn he had on his hand at the question, but just ignored him and did his move quietly, "Please, stop asking questions about that"

Roy looked at him for a second, but then just nodded and analyzed the chessboard. So the doctors didn't trust him yet...that was bad. Or maybe they were being just cautious because they were doing something they shouldn't…

"Did you pick the ring for your girlfriend already?", the boy asked him suddenly smirking.

The dark-haired man shook his head, "It's hard, you know? They look all the same for me and it's taking me longer that I expected"

The boy moved a knight and grinned, "Hurry up or she will find a more confident fiancé"

"Yeah yeah", he said as he moved one of his pawns.

"How long you will be here anyway?"

Roy smirked, "Why? Do you want me gone already?"

"Ohh you won't be that lucky, you will be stuck with me a few months more, don't you?"

"It depends", he said as he moved his rook

The blonde raised a brow, "Depends on what?"

"If I'm able to choose the ring soon"

The boy stared at the man slightly shocked, but shook his head, "You're running from her, don't you?"

"…Don't exactly, but kind of"

The kid almost laughed, but he remained quiet. Suddenly, Dr. Lyra opened the door and walked towards the boy as Roy noticed the scared face the blonde was forcing to hide.

"L001, we must proceed today"

"…W-why?", the boy asked with a voice that surprised and worried Roy.

"I don't know, it just orders. Dr. Mustang, you can come with us this time"

The boy glanced at Roy and then lowered his head defeated, so Lyra pushed him gently. The man stood up and followed both and saw how the kid was clenching his fist, but they were…shaking? Maybe in fear?

Well, I didn't matter, he was about to find if the reason he was there was real and he had to make a good performance and it could cost his life. He just hoped that it wasn't real.


	2. Welcome, Dr Mustang

"**Welcome, Dr. Mustang"**

Three months before, Roy Mustang was signing some paperwork while his crew played Shogi…o rather Breda were kicking Havoc's ass while Falman and Fuery laughed of his defeat. The man shot them an annoyed glare, so everyone shut up and talked in whispers.

"I have to finish this for before lunch and you're not helping"

Havoc growled, "…You had those papers on your desk since 5 days ago, don't complain now"

Mustang just glanced at him angrily, so the man remained quiet and got back to the game just to find out how Breda was one step far from winning. Damn the man.

In that moment, Riza opened the door and walked towards the desk with an envelope on her hand. Roy just sighed in resignation.

"More paperwork?"

"Actually no, Sir", she said as she handed the document to the man, "Major General Hakuro gave me that, but he didn't tell what it was"

Roy raised a brow and hurried to open the envelope while everyone approached to know what this was about. The man read the paper as fast as he could as his crew noticed the weird faces he was drawing as he read further more.

"They HAVE to be kidding me", he said as he stood up and threw the paper away, "The stupid paper says that I have one month to prepare myself since I have to infiltrate the 5th Laboratory as a doctor"

Everyone shut their eyes open wide. This wasn't a common mission, not for a Colonel at least.

"…A doctor?", Fuery asked, "You have to learn what it takes years for a person to learn to become a doctor?"

"Seem so, but I'll go to find out what this is about and why they chose me", the man hissed as he walked towards the door, "They can't just 'order' me to do something like that"

"Actually they can", Falman told him as the man turned and shot him an angry glare, so the Warrant Officer closed his mouth.

"I'll be right back", Roy muttered as he slammed the door shut.

His crew looked at each other worried, but there wasn't anything they could do. Roy walked fast through the hallway trying not to run. Yes, he was angry. He was a Colonel now and they couldn't just tell him to disappear from his job from months to do something a State Alchemist could do.

Roy knocked at the door and he opened it when he heard a 'come in' from inside.

"Ah, Colonel Mustang, come in"

The man closed the door behind him and walked towards the desk stopping in front of it saluting the Major General.

"I assume you're here to discuss the mission I assigned to you", the man said drawing a smile.

"Yes sir", Roy said lowering his hand, "I think I have to say I'm confused"

"And why would be that?"

"I don't understand why you assigned me to that mission when a common State Alchemist is able to do it…and their job actually"

Hakuro stared at the man still smiling for a moment. Then, he stood up and approached him, "Well, that's why I haven't told you the reason of the mission, take a seat"

Mustang raised a brow but did it anyway, so the Major General went back to his seat and smiled, "This is classified information, only you and your crew can know about this, am I clear?", Roy nodded frowning…this had to be really serious, "Some Generals had let me know about their concerns regarding the 5th laboratory. It is supposed to be used to High Profile Experiments that involves alchemy and animals of course, but they are worried that the scientists – called doctors for the cover – are using prisoners"

"…Humans?", Roy muttered with wide eyes, "You really think they are…?"

"I don't know, that's why I can't send a regular State Alchemist, this is beyond them. We must sent someone reliable and discrete that knows how to proceed in case this is real information"

The man remained silent for a moment as he lowered his head. This was a huge mission in case he found out this was true, it could mean his promotion.

"So, what do you think? I'll give you the opportunity to reject the mission"

Mustang shook his head, "Of course I'll do it, Sir"

Hakuro smiled and grabbed an envelope, "I knew you would. This is for you, all the details necessary are there"

The Colonel took the document and stood up saluting the man.

"And Colonel…Please be ready, if this is true, you'll see horrible things there. Be sure you will able to handle that. You're dismissed"

Roy nodded and left the office with the envelope on his hands walking towards his office. When he opened the door, he saw everyone sitting in the couch with worried faces and jumped at the sudden noise.

"Why such long faces?", he said with a smirk as he closed the door and headed towards his desk.

Havoc raised a brow, "As you didn't know why"

The man took a seat and unfolded the papers as he read them as fast as he could. His crew just stared at him waiting for him to say something, but he just remained silent for some minutes. He finally sighed and looked up.

"Well, I won't come to the Headquarter tomorrow…and who knows how many months after that", he said with sorrow. Even though the mission was quite interesting, he had to forget about his regular job, his crew…his dates, "I have one month to become an excellent 'doctor'"

Everyone's jaws dropped almost literarily as the man put the papers in the envelope again.

"But Sir, will you be able to do that in just one month?", Riza said concerned. It wasn't like he had to read just one book, he had to read an entire area of the National Library.

Roy stared at her for a moment, but then nodded, "Of course"

The woman just shook his head, but when the man stood up again, everyone saluted him, "You will receive orders by Colonel Douglas while I'm gone. I'm sure you will show the same respect you do for me", Havoc raised a brow, but Roy shot him a warning glare, "Or better, show some respect"

All his crew smiled and man did the same. This was going to be hard since he had to go alone, but well, it was something different for a change.

………

"That's certainly interesting….and dangerous"

Roy nodded as his best friend put more books in the table and sit down lifting his glasses.

"Are you sure you should do this?", Hughes asked him concerned at the man's huge bags under his eyes.

"For the hundredth time Maes, yes, I want to do it", the man answered slightly exasperated.

Hughes sighed as his friend opened some books, "So, I won't see you in…how many months? Elysia's birthday is in 4 months"

"I'm not sure, it depends and how well my performance is", Roy told him as he wrote some notes down. "I'm expecting to be 3 at least"

"What a shame". Hughes saw the amount of books around the table and in the floor that the dark-haired man had checked out of the National Library, "Are you really learning something or just memorizing?"

"….Sometimes I wonder the same thing", Roy said with a weak smile.

"I really hope something good come up from all this"

"Yeah, me too of I'll burn some asses"

Hughes smiled and glanced at the kitchen which, of course, was a mess, "If you're going to be like this for two more weeks, you should hire someone to clean your house"

"…That's the last of my concerns now, you know?"

The man went to the fridge and grabbed a beer he had brought, "It shouldn't be"

"Come on, Hughes"

"Alright, alright, I will stop", Hughes said taking a seat and smiling.

"Thank you"

Hughes stared at the books for a moment, but then sighed in resignation, "So, another year without a wife I think"

The man sweat dropped and glared at him. Hughes moved his hands scared so Roy wouldn't take his gloves and burn his hair.

……….

Roy grabbed his luggage and glanced at everybody at the door of his house. The month had passed away too quickly, but he was sure he was ready to his performance as a 'doctor'.

"So, this is it", he said as he smiled to everyone, "I'll call you every week, Hakweye, as we agreed. You'll inform everyone about the situation".

Riza nodded, "Just be careful, Ok?"

"I will be"

Hughes approached him to help the man with the luggage since the taxi was waiting for them.

"Take care everyone, see you in a few months"

All raised their hands as a goodbye sign and Roy and Hughes turned around to walk towards the taxi and put the luggage in the trunk.

"If you notice something dangerous, get the hell away from there", Hughes told him placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Maes, I'll be fine"

The man nodded, "Then I see you in few months"

"See you, say goodbye to Gracia and Elysia from me"

Roy got in the car and Hughes closed the door as the car-driver started the engine. The dark haired man stared at the window watching all the building passing by and the people just running their lives happily.

He, instead, was about to be confined in a weird place surrounded by crazy old men that thought it was justified to experiment with humans. Yes, he was sure that they were doing it, where there was a lead, something had to be true.

The trip took almost thirty minutes since the laboratory were hidden in the forest that surrounded the city, Roy was almost slept when the car-driver announced that they had arrived. The man got out of the car and saw the huge building in front of him as the car-driver took the luggage out of the trunk.

Roy grabbed it and paid the man watching him leave the place for a moment. Then he stared at the building for a moment before he walked towards the entrance, but he saw a woman on there…waiting for him apparently.

"Dr. Mustang, we were waiting for you", she said bowing, so Roy did the same. "I'm Dr. Lyra, it's a pleasure to meet such a wonderful man"

Roy did his best to avoid raising a brow…what in Earth they told them about him?, "It's my pleasure, Dr. Lyra"

"Follow me, I'll show you your dormitory"

The man nodded and walked at the woman's side in silence. The place was far from pleasant, it was cold and everything seemed…death. He couldn't figure out how to describe it, but it was pretty disturbing. They walked for a long time before the woman opened a door and let Mustang in so he left his luggage there.

"You can make the necessary arrangements later, now come with me to introduce you to the personnel"

Roy nodded and followed the woman again through the hallways. Fortunately, they reached their destiny soon. It was a large room with glass walls and a sterile environment that made Roy sick, but he managed to draw a polite smile when they were in front of the doctors.

"Everyone, he is Dr. Mustang, the man Hakuro-San sent". All the doctor stood up and bowed as Mustang did the same, "Dr. Mustang, they are Dr. Marcoh, Dr. Knox and Dr. Majhal"

"Well, Dr. Mustang, you must show us your knowledge since Hakuro-San spoke wonderful things about you", Majhal told him with a smile.

"Don't become impatient, I'll do it", Roy said smirking, so all the doctors laughed.

Knox made a sign with his hand, "Come here, I want to show you some notes"

Roy nodded and approached the man and everyone took a seat in the table. Well, the first step wasn't hard after all. Now he had to forget he was a Colonel and think as a Doctor…that was the tough part of course.

He relaxed when he noticed he was able to understand what they were saying, it only meant that his studies were a success and he will manage to do a good performance…or so he hoped.

…………

After a month, Roy was begging to question himself why he had accepted the mission. He thought he was doing a good job since the men talked to him as a fellow, drink beers and talk, but other than that they kept doing the same things every day…when they didn't disappear mysteriously.

He had looked around trying to find something that confirmed his suspicions, but or they were being really cautious or nothing bad was happening there, and that was getting on his nerves. Well, the fact that he couldn't leave the place was worst of course, but he would be able to bare with it better if he just found something that incriminate the 'doctors'.

Roy opened a book while Dr. Marcoh and Dr. Knox had a discussion about the behavior of a small white rat, they had injected some weird substance that it was supposed to make the animal stronger.

"No, nothing happened", Knox said almost angrily throwing a book away.

"This isn't working, we must find something else"

The dark-haired man stood up and grabbed the recipient looking it for a second before he drew a complex transmutation circle that impressed Marcoh. Roy touched the circle to activate it and then handed it to Knox.

"This should do it"

Knox stared at him for a moment, but then introduced the substance in a syringe and tested it on the rat. A few seconds later, the mouse's muscles grew significantly and broke one of the bars of his cage.

"Amazing, Dr. Mustang", Marcoh told him, "Where did you learn to use such complex transmutation circles?"

"I saw that in a book", Roy said as he sit down and looked back to the book he was reading, "I always remember all the circles I see"

"Very impressive indeed", Knox said as he analyzed the rat.

Well, one point to Dr. Mustang it seems. After two hours of experimenting, Roy decided to go to the balcony to grab some fresh air, he really hated the smell of the place, so he excused himself and left the lab area. He opened the door and walked through it until he saw a young woman standing over there, it was Sciezka, she was Dr. Lyra's apprentice.

"Dr. Mustang…It's not common to see a doctor here"

"I need some fresh air….really needed"

The woman smiled and both glanced at the forest that blocked the view from the city, "I like to come here when I feel suffocated there"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to steal that tradition from you"

Sciezka nodded happily. Both remained silent for a moment just hearing how the wind moved the trees, it was an amazing view after all. However, Roy noticed someone was in the gardens of the Lab. He moved to see it clearer and noticed he was too small to be a adult…it was a kid actually. Blonde hear and white clothes sitting in the grass…what people here had with the 'white' color anyway?

"Hey, Sciezka, who is that?"

The woman saw the kid, but didn't say anything for a moment, as she was thinking what she should say. "I saw him just once a time ago…and Dr. Lyra didn't want to talk about it"

"…Do you happen to know why?"

She shook his head, "No, but I wouldn't dare to ask her again"

Roy then stared at the kid raising a brow. Of course the fact that it was a kid worried him even more. Should he ask the doctors? Or try to find out by himself? Well, the second option sounded better.

"See you later, Sciezka"

She nodded and Roy turned around and left the balcony. Even when he hoped to find something already so he could go home, he just didn't want that kid to be his lead…that would be horrible. The man sneaked out of the place trying to avoid the doctors from seeing him, if they had hid the boy, there should be an important reason for that.

Roy walked through the grass staring at the boy who was rolled up with his arms around his legs and hiding his face. Even when all he could see was he back and his golden hair, the man noticed that he seemed sad and that couldn't just be good.

However, the dark-haired man almost jumped when the boy suddenly turned to see him with his brows frowned. Was he…angry? Maybe, but his main concern was the dull and void eyes the kid had. They were golden as his hair, but they looked…lifeless.

Roy stopped at the boy's side as he kept staring at the man, so he decided to sit up even though he noticed the blonde didn't appreciate the company.

"Hi"

………….

The chapter didn't turn out as I wished, but I think is OK :D Thank you for all the reviews you left me already! You make me happy!


	3. Golden, yet Dull

"**Golden yet dull"**

"Hi"

The boy stared at the man for a moment before he looked away and ignored him. Roy raised a brow and sat down in the grass at the boy's side, but the blonde didn't move or say something, so he remained silent. However, the man was losing his patience.

"So, it's seems that it's a common tradition to come to the gardens to escape from the lab environment"

He was expecting a reaction from the kid, but nothing happened. What was his problem anyway? Roy sighed and shut his mouth, if the blonde didn't want to talk, he wouldn't the one to force him. Both remained like that for a long time, the man was sure that maybe the doctors were looking for him already, but he really wasn't in the mood to go back right now…or ever, but not for now at least.

"Are you new here?"

Roy almost jumped at the sudden question. He glanced at the kid who was not looking at him, but certainly hadn't that angry face he had a while ago.

"Kind of, I've been here for a month now"

The boy looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, "A month?"

The man nodded and the boy did a 'Mm' sound, but didn't say another word. What talkative boy…

"The name's Roy Mustang, nice to meet you", he said as he raised his hand to the blonde.

The kid stared at him for a moment, but then grabbed it and shook it, "Nice to meet you too"

Roy raised both brows confused at the kid's attitude, "Well, it's common sense that when someone tells you their name you tell them yours, you know?"

"Why? I didn't ask your name"

"…You're a rude boy"

The man stared at the kid in annoyance, but the boy wasn't paying attention to him so he sighed trying to calm down. _'It's a kid, remember? A kid…a rude kid but a kid anyway'_

"Can I ask you what are you doing here?", Roy said finally trying to get the information he was looking for when he decided to come here.

The boy yawned and placed his chin on his arms hugging his legs, "Just enjoying the view"

"I'm not talking about here in the gardens", the man said almost impatient, "I'm talking about the Lab. What is it a boy like you doing _here_?"

The blonde moved his face and looked at the man confused, "You really don't know who I am?"

"….Should I?"

He stared at Roy for a moment, as he was analyzing if the man was lying, "...You don't look like a doctor?"

The dark-haired man flinched, but did his best to keep on his performance, "Meaning?"

"Your eyes", he said making the man look at him curious, "They seem different from the doctors I know"

"I'm sorry, but I really don't have any idea what are you talking about", Roy confessed slightly embarrassed, but interested.

However, he almost regretted he had asked when noticed how the blonde's face turned sad, "You seem more…sane"

Sane? This boy really knew something he didn't, "I'll take that as a compliment I guess, but you have to explain that for me"

The boy just averted his face and remained quiet, so Roy sighed in resignation. At least he was sure something was wrong here…

"Maybe my eyes are lying, you know?"

Mustang was surprised when the boy smiled…or grinned?, "Eyes never lie"

"So a kid says"

The blonde glared at the man almost offended, "At least I'm not an old guy pretending to be a know-it-all"

"…I haven't stated anything. You did it. Who is pretending to be a know-it-all again?"

He almost dropped his jaw, but just moved his head and hid his face with his bangs. Roy then decided to lay down in the grass since the boy didn't look like he was going to open his mouth soon. However, he saw how the blonde's face blocked the sky view.

"Why are you here?"

Mustang sat up as the boy looked at him curious but frowned. If he didn't have a good answer, he was sure the boy wasn't going to talk to him never again, "I was sent here. I don't like it, but I have to do it so I can be promoted"

Well, the kid's frown disappeared, so maybe he said the right thing, "I hadn't known anyone that hasn't asked to come here before you. All Scientists want to be here"

"…And do you happen to know why?"

The kid grinned mischievously. Yeah, of course he wasn't going to say what he knew. "Do you happen to know to do anything else that doesn't involve reading books?"

Roy lifted a brow, "…Like?"

He stood up with the grin still on his face, "Follow me"

The man did it without questions. He had won this round somehow, so he didn't want to screw it and just walked at the kid's side. Both headed through a path Roy didn't know and shot a glance everyone trying to see anything suspicious, but there was nothing. Just white walls and doors. Damn them and their white obsession.

The kid reached a door and opened it letting the man coming before he closed the door behind him. They had got into a colorless room –what a surprise – and the boy grabbed what it seemed to be a chessboard.

"Chess, do you know how to play?", the kid asked him with a smirk on his face as he was expecting the man to say no and make fun of him.

Roy smirked too, "Maybe, do you want to find out?"

He grinned, laid the chessboard on the table and opened it as he put the figures on their positions. Roy took a seat and stared at the…excited? Kid for a moment. He was sure he wasn't the only one there who could play chess, so why the boy seemed so happy?

The boy took a seat too and looked up at Roy, "I'll give you the pleasure to do the first move"

"Ohh, I see. You're an expert, aren't you?". The boy just smirked but didn't say anything. "Then I'll take the chance"

Roy moved a pawn and glanced at the kid to study him for a moment. He didn't look as the depressed boy he had seen just a few minutes ago, instead, he seemed quite happy, determinant and intelligent – as he noticed by his moves in chess - kid.

"Won't you answer my question I did out there?", Roy said suddenly as the boy moved a Knight. The blonde glanced at the man confused, "What are you doing here?"

"…No, I won't answer it", he said flatly watching how Mustang did his move.

"Why?"

"I just won't"

Roy almost growled, but decided to focus on his pieces and his strategy. Maybe it was too soon to ask, but he had to do it anyway.

"It's nothing personal", the boy added staring at the chessboard with a finger on his lips.

Mustang sighed, "Can I know your name at least?"

The blonde's face suddenly changed again into a sad one, but he forced a grin and looked up, "No, you can't"

Roy frowned. So he wasn't going to say anything at all? This was going to be harder than he thought. However, in that moment the door opened and Dr. Knox appeared with an angry face and both glanced at him. Mustang stood up, but the boy just looked away.

"Dr. Mustang, come with me please", he said flatly.

The man turned to the boy, but he had hid his face with his bangs, so he just walked and left the room followed by Knox who almost slammed the door shut.

"Dr. Knox, What's wron-?"

"I'll talk to you in the lab, not here"

Roy nodded and followed the man in silence. He was sure something wasn't right now, otherwise, why the man would be so angry? They soon arrived at the meeting hall where they gathered to present their advances in their projects and Dr. Marcoh, Dr. Majhal and Dr. Lyra were there with serious faces. Knox closed the door and signed Roy to take a seat, so he did.

"Dr. Mustang, we have to discuss this encounter with that kid", Marcoh began.

The man faked a confused face, "Why?"

"He is not just a 'kid'", Majhal continued frowning.

Roy stared at them, almost blinking, "I'm sorry, but I think I deserve more information"

Marcoh laid on his chair uncomfortable, "Dr. Mustang, that kid is here because he is an genus alchemist"

"…A genus?"

"Yes", Knox said, "But he could be dangerous, you shouldn't approach him so careless"

Dangerous?, "We were only playing chess, that could hardly be dangerous"

Lyra sighed, "Dr. Mustang, did he invite you to come to his room?"

The man nodded, so everyone looked at each other confused. Roy stared at them for a moment, but he decided to ask.

"Is that important?"

"Well", Lyra began, "We have never seen him like that…in a good mood"

Roy snorted, "I can't assure he was in a good mood, he just wanted to prove he was better than me"

"Even so", Marcoh said, "He had never tried to interact with us. He hates us and all the doctors that come here"

The dark-haired man didn't know what else to say. The boy's behavior had been so natural that he never suspected something like this.

"What can you tell about him? What's his name?", Roy tried trying to not to rise any hope.

Everyone looked at each other again, they seemed slightly preoccupied and concerned about the entire situation, but surprised too.

"That it's classified information, but we call him L001", Lyra said moving her hands not quite comfortable with the talk.

"…What kind of nickname is that for a little boy?"

"Dr. Mustang, you have to understand that we can't provide any information about the boy, at least not for now", Marcoh said almost harshly, "We will allow you to visit him since this is totally beyond precedents, but I strongly ask you to be cautious. You can go"

Roy nodded and stood up as he left the hall. He felt mad that they hadn't told him anything about the boy so he could investigate, but that only confirmed that there something bad behind this, otherwise there wouldn't be a problem for him to know everything.

So, a genus alchemist? Very impressive for a kid. He just hoped he would be able to see the boy in action sometime. The man opened the door of the boy's room and saw him in the window's frame reading a book, but the kid lifted a brow when he noticed him.

"Don't you want to play chess anymore? What a chicken", Roy said sitting at the table as the blonde approached him with a confused face, "What?"

"…I just thought they wouldn't let you come again", the boy said emotionless, but he sat in front of him, "You were next"

Roy nodded and moved a Knight, but he noticed the blonde was staring at him, "I don't appreciate being watched like that"

He flinched but looked down at his pieces, "How sensitive"

"Hey, you're talking to an adult, show some respect", the man said as he moved a Rook.

The boy moved a Bishop, "I'll show some respect to who deserves it"

Roy smirked, "Well, Jaque Mate then"

The blonde's eyes widened and stood up. He analyzed the chessboard more than five times before he laid in the chair again with his shocked face, "That can't be possible"

"It is possible"

The boy sighed and stood again to put the chessboard away. Roy then glanced around hoping he would find something to begin his research about the blonde, but he saw nothing else but books and furniture.

"Well, I have to say that no one had ever beat me on chess before, I give you the credit for that", the boy said seriously as he closed the drawer.

"And I don't deserve some respect for that?"

The blonde sat down in the chair again and smirked, "Maybe", he said glancing at the clock, "You have to go, Dr. Bastard"

"Hey!", Roy protested, "You're just a rude brat as I thought", he said crossing his arms.

The boy just pointed at the door, so the man stood up and left the room. However, Roy hurried to hide close to the blonde's room and managed to see how Lyra came and the kid followed her with an emotionless face.

Maybe the boy was a genus, but he was sure he wasn't here willingly. He just had to prove it.

…………….

"I've already sent you the rings catalog", Riza said through the phone as she looked around trying to check nobody was close enough to hear the conversation.

Roy sighed. "Elizabeth, I had seen all of them and I didn't like any for you, what do you want me to do?"

"To look more catalogs, we can't get marry without a engagement ring and you know it"

The man noticed that Marcoh had come closer to him discretely, "Why can't we get marry without all that cliché stuff?"

"Because I like that 'cliché stuff"

"I saw sometime a _small_ one that I liked, but I couldn't get any _information_ about the maker"

Riza wrote some things down in a paper, "You will have to look harder then. You must choose a ring before you come home or I will be very mad"

The man sighed again, "Right right, I'll call you later. Say hi to everyone"

"Bye"

Riza hang up and walked fast towards Hughes desk where he was talking through the phone, but ended the conversation when he saw the woman.

"What's wrong?", he asked her when the man noticed the confused face she had.

She handed him the paper and Hughes read it quickly and frowned. He looked up at Riza and she just nodded.

"This…This is for real?", he asked raising a brow and the woman nodded again.

"It was what he told me"

"But…he meant…like a kid?"

Both remained silent for a moment, but Riza took a seat and looked around to see if someone was there.

"This is even more serious than we thought", she began as Hughes rip the paper off, "A kid…"

"Let's just hope that it's not something like that", the man said with sorrow. Of course he was trying to lie to himself, but there wasn't anything he could to.

"I just have a bad feeling about this, he shouldn't have gone alone"

"Maybe, but that wasn't up to us to decide"

Hughes remained thoughtful for a moment, but then stood up, "I'll go to check if I can find something about this, you have to go back"

Riza nodded and walked away as Hughes stared at her worried. A kid wasn't on their plans, he was sure that they wouldn't hurt Roy if this was about prisoners on death penalty, but if a boy was there, that proved how insane they were.

The man headed to the National Library, of course he wouldn't find anything relevant, but maybe a lead would come up and be able to help Roy from the outside. That's all he could do this time and he hated it.

…………


	4. The ticket to a brand new life

So, school begun XD I'll try to keep the rhythm of updating every two days, but I'm sure I will do it at noon as I was doing all the time…instead, it will be random :/ I'm sorry, but thank you so much for the reviews:D They keep me going!

"**The ticket to a brand new life"**

"_L001, we must proceed today"_

"…_W-why?", the boy asked with a voice that surprised and worried Roy._

"_I don't know, it just orders. Dr. Mustang, you can come with us this time"_

_The boy glanced at Roy and then lowered his head defeated, so Lyra pushed him gently. The man stood up and followed both and saw how the kid was clenching his fist, but they were…shaking? Maybe in fear?_

Roy walked behind Lyra and the kid through a corridor he didn't know staring at the boy's back. His behavior always changed when the woman came for him and he was about the find out why…although he wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

"Dr. Mustang", Lyra said suddenly catching the man's attention, "You have to understand that what are you about to see is classified and we're allowing you to be there because you have proved to be an excellent scientist"

Roy nodded. Of course what she meant was the he couldn't talk about this to anyone. The man noticed how the boy moved his head and glanced at him discretely, although he wasn't sure if the kid was angry or what.

They finally reached a huge door and Lyra knocked it three times before it moved to let them enter. Roy saw amazed the machines they had there, nothing he had seen before.

"You will have to sit at there and watch the procedure, Dr. Mustang", the woman told him as the kid walked away, "Newcomers aren't allowed to do anything until they become expertise"

The man obeyed and took a seat contemplating all the persons who were there checking out the machines or preparing them. However, he quickly moved his eyes towards the kid. Marcoh had placed some nodes on the boy's head.

"Today I want you to transmute something huge", the man said as he walked back to the computer.

The boy rolled his eyes, clapped his hands and transmuted a big wooden horse as he crossed his arms. Roy was astonished by the fact the kid didn't need a transmutation circle and could create such an impressive figure, but Dr. Knox wasn't that happy.

"I'VE TOLD YOU MILLIONS OF TIMES THAT YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL WE GIVE YOU THE SIGN!"

The dark-haired man smirked when he saw the proud smile the kid had, as he found funny how he challenged the doctors. Roy wasn't sure why, but he liked that rebelliousness and he was sure the boy had a strong reason to being like that to them.

The man found about the reason soon. He noticed how bad the doctors treated the kid, always pushing or pulling him harshly or verbally abusing him. They forced him to transmute innumerable things until he saw how the boy panted exhausted, so a nurse approached and led him towards a bed.

The woman gave him a shot – the boy shut his eyes and his body shook frightened – and they connected nodes on his entire body. Roy bowed his head and screwed his eyes shut trying not to hear the boy's moans, he couldn't tell what they were doing to him, but it's certainly had to be painful. However, Roy had his first proof: that was considered 'human experimentation'.

They released the kid, but he just sat up in the bed and put a hand on his forehead. The dark-haired man noticed that the doctors weren't paying attention to him or the boy, so he quickly approached him.

"Are you ok?"

The kid flinched and looked up with his hand still on his forehead surprised that Roy was there, "…Yeah, I'm used to this"

"…Used?", Roy asked in disbelief, "You should laid down, you don't look right"

The boy shook his head and stood up, "The faster I go through the experiments, the faster I can go back to my room"

"Dr. Mustang, please go back to your seat"

Roy turned around and saw Lyra walking towards him, so he nodded, glanced at the boy and then moved away. The next tests were as bad as this one and he found hard to pay attention to the procedures as he was asked to. '_This is….horrible…how can they do something like this to a little kid?_', he though as he bit his lip convincing himself for the thousandth time that he shouldn't do anything even when he saw the pain the boy's face. A pain he was trying to hid, used to it.

"Dr. Mustang, you should feel lucky", Mahjal told him with a wide smile, "First time you came and you will see the real power of this genius"

The man couldn't draw a smile, he just couldn't, so he merely nodded. Genius? In hell, they were torturing a little boy! And they would pay for this, he swore it for his life.

The boy heard Mahjal's words and his eyes widened, "Dr. Majhal, you promise that you wouldn't do that again if I behaved"

The doctor glanced at the boy emotionless, "Well, you are not behaving right now"

The blonde flinched and lowered his head so his bang hid his face, but he clenched his fist and his teeth. Roy didn't say anything, just saw how the man grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him away. He stuck the boy into a large glass cylinder and secured it.

"…What are you going to do?", Mustang asked finally to Dr. Lyra.

She smiled, "It's pretty fascinating, just watch"

The man nodded and stared at the blonde who was in the middle of the cylinder motionless. If the boy was more afraid of that than the tests they had done already, that couldn't by good, any good. He noticed how gas began to fill the container, so the boy backed up until he bumped into the glass and covered his nose and mouth with both hands.

"Dr. Lyra, what are you doing?!", the man snarled worried, but the woman didn't say anything.

Roy's eyes widened when he saw how the kid was struggling for air, so he glanced at the doctors desperate. Would they let the kid die there or what?!

"He has began"

The man then glanced at the cylinder and saw the blonde clapping his hands and touching the floor of the machine. The transmutation lightened the entire place that he had to turn his head to protect his eyes.

The light last like 10 seconds and then began to fade, so Roy did his best effort to see through it. The man flinched when he noticed the boy falling in the floor, so he took out his gloves but Dr. Lyra stopped him.

"Please remain quiet, he is not in danger"

"He fainted! How can you say that?!"

The woman shot him a warning glare and he put the gloves back on his pocket watching how everyone ignored the kid, but focused on a container next to the cylinder who was glowing.

"Now it's when the magic happens", Dr. Knox said.

In that moment, a door opened and two some guards came pulling two frightened prisoners and two dogs. The guards dragged the men intro another cylinder along with the dogs and closed it drowning the screams of fear. Dr. Marcoh then pushed a bottom and a transmutation circle was activated…but anyone was there to touch the circle…so how?

After the transmutation was complete, two human chimeras were in the middle of the cylinder. The prisoners had different features from the dogs and they began to scream scared complete aware of what happened.

Roy glanced at the woman, who had a big smile on her face, "Two chimeras using the boy's alchemy, easily and stable without using an actual alchemist. What do you think, Dr. Mustang?"

Well, it was really pretty fascinating, but he was actually more sickened by the fact that they had to push the boy that far to force him to do that, "Why do you need the boy to do that? Transmuting chimeras is not dangerous"

"Oh no, don't get me wrong", Lyra said as she pushed some bottoms and the others doctors approached the chimeras, "This is merely experimentation, of course we will use his alchemy to something more complex"

The man frowned, "So…you're going to keep doing that to the boy?"

The woman glanced at him confused, "What?"

"Well, nearly kill him every time you need his alchemy?", the man growled crossing his arms.

Lyra shot him a disapprovingly look, "I knew they shouldn't have let you get so close to the boy"

"Exactly! He's just a boy!"

The woman rolled his eyes, but Roy had already run towards the cylinder, opened it and lifted the boy bridal style. He noticed how pale the blonde was, so he clenched his teeth in anger and left the place slamming the door shut at the doctors' confused eyes.

………

"Shouldn't you be celebrating the creation of the chimeras with the other doctors?"

Roy flinched and looked up at the boy who was laid down in a bed in the medical area. The blonde had a tiny smile on his face and, so the man smirked and cross his arms.

"You took your time, little fellow"

The boy frowned, "…If I had the energy to yell at you, you can sure I would"

The man uncrossed his arms and stared at the boy with a concerned face, but the blonde sat up and smiled.

"It's been a long time since I have seen a worried face", the boy said with a low voice that seemed quite hollow.

Roy wasn't surprised. He sat at the boy's side and sighed, "Why are you here? I know you could escape whenever you want"

The boy slightly jumped, but didn't look up. Instead, he lowered his head as his hair fell over his shoulders messily. "I thought you were there"

"…There?"

"There, with the other doctors"

Mustang raised a brow, "I was"

"Then I don't understand how you didn't get the reason why I am here", the boy said with a bitter voice. However, he glanced at the dark-haired man and noticed the confused face he had, "I'm a threat to anyone near me"

Roy blinked a few times before he could process what the kid had said, "I hardly believe you're threat, you know?"

"…Are you blind or something?", the boy said quite angry, "I didn't hurt anyone back then because the machine protected all of you, but if something like that happens with people around me…I…I don't know what could happen"

"Are you saying that you can't control it?"

The boy merely nodded and lowered his head again, "I haven't had a proper training to use my alchemy, I just do what books say and I don't think that's enough. They won't train me".

The man contemplated the boy quietly for a moment, "…Then you don't know how you can do alchemy without a transmutation circle". The blonde shook his head, "And what about the transmutation you did before you fainted?"

"…I just know that I can do that only if I feel like I'm going to die…and it's not pretty", the boy said drawing a painful smile.

Roy remained silently for a moment again, thinking about how he should proceed. However, the boy stood up suddenly and stretched his arms.

"Hey, you shouldn't get up yet, you're still weak"

The boy stared at him for a second, "I'll go to my room, they always take me there. You should go back as well"

Yes, he should, but he really didn't want you. He wasn't sure if he would be able to force a smile and being interested in their 'fascinating' experiment.

"Are you sure you're OK?", the man asked him.

The boy grinned, "I'm strong enough to handle such things"

"…Yeah, but you're so _little_ that-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MIDGET?"

Roy smirked and left the room followed by a pissed off kid. Well, he had what he wanted, tonight was going to be the night he had waited as soon as he stepped on the place. The man glanced at the boy, certainly he was strong, but he didn't deserve to be a lab rat just because he was afraid he would hurt somebody. Damn scientists.

"Have some rest", the man said as the boy opened the door.

"Yeah, yeah"

The blonde go into the room and closed the door as Roy walked through the hallway with his fists clenched. He entered the place where the doctors were still analyzing the chimeras to check the stability of the transmutation; when Lyra saw him, the woman approached him.

"You shouldn't get too attached to the boy", she said catching the doctors attention, "This job doesn't allow that"

"One thing is to get attached, but you almost kid the boy", the man said harshly.

"We have done extraordinary things with his alchemy, most of them in medical research", Dr. Knox said quite annoyed.

"I don't care, you're using a little kid like an animal", the man said plainly crossing his arms, "That doesn't justify anything you can achieve with his alchemy"

"Dr. Mustang, don't be so moral about this", the man almost hissed, "The boy isn't hurt, you witnessed it, he is harmless, we're careful with that"

The man just rolled his eyes and watched how the guards they pulled the scared human chimeras out of the place and they began to talk between them…surely about him. Roy turned around and left the lab walking fast towards his room. He dialed up some numbers and waited until someone picked up the phone.

"_Hawkeye"_

"Elizabeth", Roy said in low voice, "I found the perfect ring"

The woman flinched and nodded, but she remembered the man couldn't see her, _"Finally, I'll make the arrangements then"_

"OK, see you soon"

The man hung up and laid down in his bed sighing deeply. Well, he couldn't say he hasn't seen such bastard humans before, but the fact that there was a kid was just away too much. He decided to sleep for a few hours before the big event of the night, so he would be fully prepared to it.

……………

The boy opened his eyes feeling his head still dizzy and tired; however, he had to stand up since it was almost night already and he wouldn't be able to sleep if he didn't. He yawned and scratched his head moving some locks of his face as he tried to fix it into a braid again.

Suddenly, the door opened and Roy entered the room and closed it again. The boy stared at the man as he walked towards the blonde and raised a brow.

"At least you could knock, you know?"

The man shushed him, but when the kid was about to burst in yells, Roy put a hand on his mouth, "Quiet", he muttered. The boy shot him an angry glare, but he nodded, so the man put the hand away. "We're going out of here tonight"

He widened his eyes, "….What?"

Roy then kneeled and placed both hands on the kid's shoulders, "Please, don't be scared. I'll help you, I'll train you if I have to, but you won't stay here anymore"

The blonde contemplated the man's obsidian eyes for a moment frowned as he was deciding whether he should trust the man or not, "B-but you saw what I did and-"

"I saw it and I can help you, I promise", the man said trying to sound as kind as he could. He had forgotten for a second that he was talking to a 10 years old boy.

The kid just lowered his head and absently nodded, so Roy grabbed his hand and pulled him.

"This will be dangerous, but I'll protect you, OK?"

The boy glanced at the man who had a confident smile on his face and noticed the gloves he had with a transmutation circle embroidered on them, "…OK"

Roy slightly opened the door and took a peek to check that there wasn't anybody there, and there wasn't. The man went out of the room followed by the kid as he glanced around raising a hand ready if he had to snap his fingers. They soon reached a dark hallway where the kid noticed the were a lot of men hid with military uniforms, so he looked up at Roy just to see how he took out his white coat to reveal that he had one of those too.

"…You are….you are in the military?"

The man glanced at the boy and nodded with a serious face, "Yes. I was infiltrated to catch them doing human experimentation"

The boy stared at him for a second, but then smirked, "I knew you weren't a doctor"

Roy smirked him back, "Smart boy". Then the man looked over his crew and his subordinates, "Well, let's get in"

All the men nodded and prepared their guns as Roy checked his gloves and grabbed the kid's hand. The crew went first and aimed his guns ready if they had to shoot suddenly, so Roy walked with the boy behind him towards the lab where he was sure the doctors were. And he wasn't wrong, they had to immobilize some guards to reach it, but when the dark-haired man opened the door, it was clear that the scientist wasn't expecting that.

"…Dr. Mustang?", Marcoh said in disbelief, "What is this?"

"I'm not a doctor. I'm Colonel Mustang and you all are under arrest by the charge of using humans for your experimentations", he said.

Everyone had shocked faces, but then Roy pulled the kid behind him and the boy heard shoots so he tried to see what was happening…only to see the extraordinary skill the man had, snapping his hands transmuting what it seemed to be small bombs and fire. He was speechless.

It took just a few minutes before they could control them since they didn't have a huge force. They really thought they were safe in there it seemed. Roy just smirked when the doctors shot him angry glares, but the kid that was behind him catching his attention since he was staring at him.

"You're free now", the man said with a sincere smile, "No more tests"

The boy just lowered his head. Of course that was a good thing, but Roy knew the boy was just worried that he could hurt somebody, so he kneeled in front of him.

"Hey, I promised you that I would help you, and I'll keep my word"

Riza glanced at them discretely surprised by the kind face Roy had, not a smirk or a grin, but a sweet smile, not very common in him. The rest of the crew noticed it too and they looked at each other confused.

"Why do you want to help me?", the kid asked finally staring at Roy's obsidian eyes. He couldn't help but trust the man just by looking at his eyes, but this was just too sudden.

"Well, maybe because short kid like you deserves better in his life that this"

The blonde flinched, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT YOU WOULD HAVE TO BEND TO LOOK AT HIM!"

"…But I have to", the man teased him, but smiled at the angry face of the kid, "You don't want to see what it's behind these walls? The city, the people…the books?"

The kid's pissed off face washed out and turned into a serious one, but remained silently for a moment before he drew a tiny smile and nodded, "I think you just want me around to prove that you're better in chess than me"

Roy rose with a smirk on his face, "Well, I hadn't had thought of that…"

The man noticed the astonished faces his crew had, so he raised a brow.

"Something is bothering you all?"

Everyone shook their heads, but Riza stared at him as the kid watched how the officers examined the chimeras, "What are you doing, Sir, if may I ask?"

The man was expecting that question, "I'm not sure"

"…You really shouldn't promise the kid something you're not sure you will do"

"Hey, I didn't say anything about not keeping my word", the man complained slightly hurt by the insinuation…or more than an insinuation.

"Are you going to live with the boy or something?", the woman asked him concerned.

Roy nodded, "At least for a while…He is just amazing…and I know something or someone was behind all this. I don't buy the fact that the doctors were using him just to 'medical research'", the man said turning at the boy, "He…he could be dangerous in the wrong hands"

Riza just sighed, "Maybe, but we are talking about a kid…are you sure you're qualified to take care of a child? Alchemist or not?". Roy glared at her quite annoyed by her insistence. "And why are you so sure they would let you keep him in your house instead of an orphanage – assuming he doesn't have parents?"

"Too many questions, First Lieutenant", he said crossing his arms, "I'll solve one by one"

Riza glanced at the kid, who was already walking towards Roy. He seemed quite frightened by the chimeras – and she didn't wonder why, they were horrible -, but at the same time had a hint of anger and hate on his eyes.

"Will you get along with the kid?", Riza asked him suddenly.

Roy nodded, "Hey shorty! Time to go!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHORTY YOU OLD MAN!"

"…Old?", the man said with wide eyes, "OLD?! I'M JUST TWENTY FIVE YOU MIDGET!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT I HAVE TO BE LOOKED THROUGH A MICROSCOPE TO BE SEEN?!"

Riza stared at them blinking a few time as she couldn't believe how they treated each other, "…Maybe I'm worrying far too much…."

………………

Hope you liked it :D Maybe I will upload small drabbles I have from "Almost a perfect life" that I couldn't include- cut would be more accurate - in the fic because it would have been…well…even LONGER XD. I'll let you know since I have then in Spanish and I have to translate them ;)


	5. I belong

"**I belong"**

The boy's eyes shut open in surprise when he glanced at the city in front of them. He had never seen one before, so he couldn't hide how amazed he was for the high activity the place had with hundreds of people around, houses, stores, cars, the lights and who knows what else. Roy glanced at him and smiled at the innocent face of the blonde, so excited for something as simple as a city. It was one of the greatest cities of the country, but still.

The kid stared at the buildings passing by the window with his mouth open, but the large park surrounded by trees caught his attention, it was certainly beautiful even though he had lived in the middle of a forest for his entire life.

When the car stopped at the red light in a crossroads, the boy noticed a few kids walking in the sidewalk at a woman's side, their mother surely. The blonde's face saddened, but he slightly shook his head trying to get rid of any thought right now since he was sure the adults in the car were watching him.

Soon the car reached their destination and the boy saw even more surprised the large building in front of them. He saw how Roy's officers entered first with the scientists handcuffed as they glared at the dark-haired man with anger and he did the same with a smirk on his face.

Roy grabbed the blonde's hand and they walked behind then along with his crew in silence, hearing just the steps of everyone as they were keeping a rhythm on purpose. They walked upstairs until they reached one particular office and the Colonel knocked at the door.

The opened and Brigadier General Hakuro smiled greeting the man back as Roy smiled him back, "Come in".

All the man got into the office as the Brigadier General walked towards his desk, grabbed the phone and said something they couldn't hear. Every one saluted him, but the man nodded so they lowered their hands.

"Colonel Mustang, I see you accomplished your job in the period of time you estimated. I'm impressed", the man said crossing his arms contemplating the doctors, "Congratulations"

Roy bowed his head, "Thanks Sir"

"You will be prosecuted and charged for using humans, I hope you knew the consequences before you began messing with something that serious", Hakuro told the doctors while they stared at him frowned, "Take them away"

The officers saluted the Brigadier General and pulled the doctors out of the place, but before the door closed, two men got into the room. The kid glanced at them, but looked up at Roy when the man saluted them as well as his crew and Hakuro.

"I'm sorry for calling so late, Sir, I know you were in your way out", Hakuro apologized as he lowered his hand, "But you requested me to let you know when Colonel Mustang was back"

"Indeed I did", the man said with a smile on his face and turned at Roy, "I see you finished the mission satisfactorily, Colonel Mustang, congratulations"

"Thank you, Sir"

The man nodded and began to talk with Hakuro in low voice so they couldn't hear anything, but glanced at each other curious. The blonde yanked the man's shirt to catch his attention.

"Who is he", the kid asked him.

"He is the Fuhrer, King Bradley, the Commander in Chief of the Military", he muttered, but the boy just stared at him confused, "I'll explain it to you later"

The kid just made a cranky face, but remained silently as the adults talked things he couldn't understand. However, the boy stared contemplative at the Fuhrer...his voice…he had heard his voice before…or maybe he was confusing him with somebody else? He flinched when the Fuhrer glanced at him for a second, but maybe he had imagined that since nobody else noticed it.

Finally, Roy grabbed his hand again and left the office walking towards the cars. Roy and his crew didn't say a word for a while, so he did the same. When they were in the car, Havoc was driving with Riza at his side while he and Roy were in the back seat, the kid looking at the city through the window.

"I don't know, that was just odd", the dark-haired man said suddenly. The blonde glanced at him, but he noticed the serious gaze he had, "Why would the Fuhrer care about something like that?"

"Maybe he takes human transmutation very seriously", Havoc said as he took a peek around to turn in a corner.

"Still", the man said frowned, "It was pretty odd"

The kid stared at the man but didn't say anything. He actually was wondering what was going to happen now…where was he going to live? With whom? Where they were going now anyway? But still, he didn't say a word. Soon, they stopped in front of a house…a nice house actually. Roy thanked Riza and Havoc and got out of the car with the kids luggage, so he did the same and followed the man.

Roy sighed, trying to forget about that stuff for the time being since he had a confused and probably scared boy at his side, "Do you like my house?", he said as took his keys.

"…I expected it to be bigger", the boy joked with a grin.

"Well, I don't know why since you always knew I wasn't a doctor"

The man opened the door and a house keeper received them, Roy smiled at her while the boy glanced at the house and moved his hands quite nervous.

"Come with me", Mustang told him as he walked thought the hall until he reached a door and opened it. The boy noticed how cosy it seemed even, but followed the man as he took a seat on the bed, "Well, you like it?"

The blonde stared at him for a moment, but then looked away, "…Am I going to stay with you?...at your house?"

"You don't want to?", the man asked him concerned.

However, the boy shook his head, "No, it's not that…it's just…I don't want to be a bother"

Roy drew a sincere smile, "You won't be. I'll honest with you, I'm not that fond of kids", he said and the kid smirked, yeah, he was sure that was true, "But you're not an ordinary kid anyway"

"I just I don't get why you insist on taking care of me"

The man lowered his head. The boy wanted a real reason, otherwise, this wasn't going to work. However…what was the real reason? He really got attached to blonde after two months of interacting with him and really wanted to help him, but was that the real reason?, "Because I want to isn't a valid reason?"

The kid stared at him. Maybe it was a valid reason, but he was sure the man wasn't telling him the entire story…but in the other hand, he had been the only person that showed to be truly concerned about him. "I'll let it be valid…for a while"

Roy smiled, "Well, then sit here", he said tapping the bed, "We need to talk about some things"

The boy did it even more nervous, but remained silently as the man contemplated him.

"Can you tell me your name?"

The kid's eyes widened and lowered his gaze as he clenched his fists. Roy regretted he had asked, but when he was about to opened his mouth to tell the boy it was ok, the blonde looked up with a sad face, "…I…I don't know my name"

Well, Roy wasn't expecting that, but he tried hard not to pity the boy. It seemed it was the last thing the blonde wanted, "Don't you remember anything before you started living in the lab?". The blonde absently nodded and lowered his head again, "It's OK, we'll figure out how to find about your past"

The kid looked up at him and nodded with a tiny smile, "You're not the bastard I thought you were"

"…Sometimes maybe I am"

"…Yeah, I agree with you in that one"

Roy smiled and nodded. "I'll try to find some clothes for you for the night, I don't want you to use that anymore"

The kid raised a brow and glanced at his white long-sleeved shirt, gloves, pants and shoes…well, white wasn't exactly his color, but he could live with that, "That's not necessary"

"Of course it is, tomorrow it's my free day so we are going out to buy you some clothes", he said as he stood and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Hey!"

"Let's have some dinner, I assume you're hungry". In that moment, the kid's stomach growled and his face blushed fiercely, "See?"

The boy rolled his eyes and followed the man, he always had to be right. However, before they got out of the room, the phone rang and Roy picked it up.

"Mustang"

"At least you could have called me to let me know you were back"

"Hi Maes, I'm sorry, everything happened so fast, I just got home"

"Yeah yeah, as always", the man said laughing, "Anyway, I assume everything went as you planned"

"Quite…but not quite at the same time", he said watching how the boy approached the mirror and stared at his reflection trying to fix his hair.

"Meaning?"

"….Actually, would you like to come? I have some stuff to discuss with you"

"Well, it's not that late. Gracia will understand"

"Great, see you soon then"

Roy hung up and glanced at the boy who had unbraided his hair to braid it again since he couldn't fix it.

"I'm a powerful alchemist, remember? Mess up with my hair and you will lose yours"

The man raised a brow, "I'm so scared. Come on"

The boy growled, but followed him quietly. He looked around and noticed how warm and cozy the house was….even thought there were the only there besides the housekeeper. He really though Roy's house would be a mess or something.

They reached the dining room and both took a seat in the table as a woman approached to get the table ready, "A friend is coming by, I hope you don't mind"

The blonde stared at him for a moment, "…This is your house, of course I don't mind". Roy smiled but then the maid approached to confirm some stuff about the dinner and left again, "So, I guess you are not married"

"You guess right", the man told him taking a sip of his drink.

"No woman has been able to stand your egocentrism?"

Roy narrowed his eyes, "It's not that, I dated a lot of woman and…hey, this isn't any of your business"

The kid smirked, but in that moment the maid brought a lot of food and his stomach growled again at he stared at it with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?", the man asked him concerned.

"…This smells…great", the kid said staring at the stew, "I've never had this kind of food before. They always made me eat something that tasted awful but had 'all my body needs'", he added with a hint of sarcasm on his voice.

Roy smiled, "Well, now you're going to eat real food. Try the stew"

The man stared at the kid watching how he gobbled the food, so he made a sign to the maid so she would bring more. Soon, someone knocked at the door and Roy stood up to opened it, "Nice to see you again, Maes"

Hughes stepped in and Roy closed the door, "Nice to see you again, too…you really need a haircut"

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes, "Come on, I want you to meet someone"

"…Please, tell me you brought a beautiful woman with you", Hughes said with a wide smile.

Roy sweat dropped, but didn't say anything and walked towards the dining room. Hughes' eyes widened when he saw the kid eating like there was no a tomorrow.

"I told you to bring a woman, not to have kids!"

The man almost fell in the floor at his friends comment, but instead he glared at him, "He is _the kid_"

Hughes stared at him for a moment, but then opened his mouth, "Oh…I'm sorry"

He sighed and both approached the table were the boy stopped eating when he saw them, "He is Maes Hughes, my best friend"

"Nice to meet you, Hughes-San", the boy said swallowing the food he had on his mouth first and bowing his head.

Hughes smiled, "Nice to meet you too", he said as he saw how the blonde sat down again and began to eat, "…What is he doing here?",

"He is going to live with me for a while…and I need your help…I don't know anything about taking care of kids and I need to know if you can get information about him"

"Well…Elysia is just one year old, it's not the same, but I think I can help you with that", Maes told him staring at the boy, "About the other thing…I think I got what you need"

"…Really?"

Hughes nodded, "When Riza told me there was a kid on the lab, I researched about him. I had to break some rules, but I got something interesting"

"Maes, I've told you several times that you shouldn't do stuff like that anymore, you're married and a father now"

"Yeah yeah, here", the man told him as he opened the suitcase he had brought, "I thought on showing the information to you, but I wasn't expecting that you would have the kid here"

"I can't let them take him into a orphanage", he said as he read the papers, "If you found this information inside the Headquarter…". Maes frowned and nodded. So, that partially confirmed Roy's suspicions that there was someone interested in the boy besides the doctors, "This is pretty good, thank you Hughes"

"Any time"

Both men walked towards the table and took a seat while the boy placed his head on it and sighed, "…I think I ate more than I should"

"Hey, I have good news", Roy told him catching the boy's attention as he raised his head, "Hughes was able to find some information about you"

The kid opened his eyes in surprise, "Really?"

The man nodded, "Are you ready to know your name?". The boy stared at him expectantly, so Roy smiled, "Edward Elric"

"…Edward?", the kid said with low voice. Something is his head told him that this wasn't the first time he had heard that name, "…Ed…I remember someone calling me Ed"

"You got in the lab when you were 3 years old", Roy continued, "That's why you don't remember anything before being there, you were almost a baby"

Well, that wasn't entirely true, but the kid didn't say anything about that. "Edward Elric…"

"That was all the information I could find", Hughes said suddenly, but the boy smiled.

"Thank you, that's enough for me"

Hughes nodded. The boy grabbed the paper and stared at it reading his name several times. He wasn't L001 anymore, he was Edward Elric, he had an identity...he belonged. Yeah, he liked his name.

…………..

The next morning, Roy's alarm woke him at 5:00 a.m. The man opened an eye and stared at the crimson numbers deciding whether to sleep one more hour or get up to do some exercise…Reluctantly, he stood up and yawned, but changed his clothes and left the house. He ran around the block, the sky still lightening and some stores opening as they owners waved their hands greeting the man.

When he was on his way back to the house, he saw an old woman in a rocking chair and a dog at her side with an automail leg. The man stopped in front of the house panting and waved his hand, "Good morning, Pinako-San"

"Well, well, look who is back", the woman said as she stood up and approached the man in the fence, "How have you been?"

"Very well, I see that you're well too", the man said trying to catch his breath, "How have Winry and Al been doing?"

"She doesn't want to go to school anymore, she only wants to learn about automail. Al is as sweet and responsible as always", Pinako said patting Den's head.

"I think she will become a great mechanic, you should listen to her"

"Yeah, maybe I should. Anyway, did you get marry?"

Roy's eyes widened, "….W-what?"

"Hughes told me you went to another city to find the right woman", she said smirking amused at the man's face, "I guess he lied"

"Damn Hughes, he will pay for this", the man hissed clenching his fists, "I have to go"

"It was nice to see you, Roy", the woman said sincerely.

Mustang nodded, "The same for you, say hi to Winry and Al for me"

"I will, take care"

The man began to run again until he reached his house and opened the door. The maid asked him if he wanted coffee and he nodded, but he would take a shower first…or maybe check on the boy. Roy slightly opened the door of the kid's bedroom and noticed he was still deeply slept with his golden hair everywhere.

He sighed and approached the kid contemplating him. The man noticed the boy was screwing his eyes shut and clinging at the sheet. He was probably having a nightmare…so, should he wake up him? Or let him sleep? He usually woke up by himself when he was having a bad dream, but he didn't know what to do when he wasn't the one having the nightmare…

That was when a thought almost slapped at his face…what was he doing? How did he decide to take care of a _child_? He didn't know anything about kids! Roy scratched his head…Riza had been right…she was _always _right.

Well, as he said, he had made a promise and he would keep his word not matter what. The man turned around and walked towards the door, but he jumped when he heard the voice of the boy.

"Mustang-San?"

Roy glanced at him with sweat dropping…he had been caught…however, he smiled when he saw the sleeping face of the boy yawing and his hair messed up, "Hey, go back to sleep"

Ed blinked a few times trying to see what time it was until he could see it was 6:15, "…But it's already late"

"…Late?", the man asked him approaching the boy, "What do you mean?"

"They woke me up at 5:00 everyday", the boy said closing his eyes and his head moving up and down, "It's already late"

The man smiled and patted Ed's head, "No, you're not at the laboratory anymore, you can sleep a few more hours"

Edward looked at Roy with his eyes half opened, "…Really?"

"Yeah, and sleep as more as you can because we're going to walk a lot in the afternoon"

"…Can we look for books?"

"Books and clothes, OK?"

The kid nodded and laid down in the bed falling sleep immediately. Well, maybe he didn't know anything about kids, but Ed certainly was an interesting one and he knew how to get along with him. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

………….


	6. Breaking his habit

"**Breaking his habits"**

Ed rolled his eyes for the thousandth time. Roy was talking to a woman yet again and he was there carrying some bags standing on his feet. He had done this for the tenth time at least, he was sure. The boy took a seat and waited until the man finished flirting – or whatever he was doing.

The kid hugged the bags and looked everywhere somewhat overwhelmed by the crowd in there…he had never seen so much people gathered together in one place before and all of they seemed happy just for buying stuff…He wasn't that comfortable since he knew he could hurt anyone if something happened…

However, something caught his attention. He stood up trying not to drop the bags and stopped front of a store window. A long crimson coat was there on a dummy and he quickly decided that he liked it, so he entered the store. Ed directed towards the coat to check on the prize, but his jaw almost went to the floor as he sweat dropped and lowered his head in resignation.

What he didn't know, was that Roy was looking at him discretely as he talked to the woman and he smiled. The kid got out of the store and glared at the man because he was still with the girl, but Roy didn't even notice. Pissed off, he walked towards him and grabbed his hand.

"Hey Dad, can we eat something?"

Roy's jaw _did_ drop and glanced at the kid shocked, but when he saw the smirk the boy had, he frowned. However, the woman was already saying goodbye and disappeared from the place.

"Thanks a lot", the man said annoyed.

"I'm hungry and you didn't seem to have the intention of finish with the girl soon"

"That's not a reason to scare her!"

"Why do you care anyway? You almost have a date for each day of the week"

The man sighed, "You're just a kid"

"…What's that suppose to mean?"

Roy just walked towards the store Ed had gone in, but he grabbed his arm.

"That's store no, it's too expensive"

However, the man just kept walking at the kid's protests and entered the store, but Ed remained outside; maybe Roy wanted to buy something for himself. A few minutes later, the man showed up with a big bag and signed the kid to follow him towards the food area.

"I thought you would like this", Roy said as he took out what he had on the bag: the crimson coat of course.

Edward stopped and stared at the man as he shook his head, "No! Why did you buy it? It was too expensive!"

"…Well, if you don't want it, I think I will have to give it to a poor kid since it's so _small_ for me", the man said examining the coat. Ed growled at the 'small' comment, but lowered his head, "It's Ok, take the chance since I'm in a good mood even thought you messed up with my date"

The kid scratched his head almost regretting he had done that to the man…almost anyway. Roy handed him the coat and Ed looked at it amazed, he really liked it, "…Thanks"

The man turned to see him with a smile, "Anytime. However, I have to insist that you should buy some short sleeved shirts too, I don't get why you don't like them"

"…I just don't"

"But the weather here is quite hot in summer, you know?"

Ed shook his head, "No, I don't want short sleeved shirts"

Roy rolled his eyes; well he was stubborn, wasn't he? They got into another store and the kid quickly looked for the long sleeved shirts, but Roy grabbed some short ones.

"Look, they're nice, give them a shot at least"

The kid glared at him, but since he was sure the man wouldn't give up, he decided to please him, "I'll try them, but If I don't like them you will stop bothering me about that?"

Roy nodded, so Edward grabbed the shirt and got into the fitting room. The man looked around for some shoes for him, but the kid was taking away too long this time, so he decided to check on him. He knocked at the door, but when he didn't receive a response, Roy opened the door only to see the blonde standing in the middle of the room staring at his reflection in the mirror. However, that wasn't what caught his attention…but the automail arm the boy had.

"Ed?"

The boy flinched and turned around with a shocked face trying to move so he could would hide the automail. The man stared at him with wide eyes, but then got into the room and closed the door.

"Hey, that's ok, you shouldn't be ashamed of that, you know?", he said as he kneeled and grabbed the kid's shoulders.

Edward just lowered his head with a sad face and let Roy see the automail. He couldn't hide it anymore anyway, "I just…didn't want you to know"

"Why? Having automail is pretty normal these days"

The kid looked up and stared at Roy's obsidian eyes for a second. He didn't know why, but he could see a hint of understandement on them, so he merely nodded. "Let's get out of here…please"

The man stood up and nodded, "You were hungry, weren't you?"

Ed changed his shirt quickly and approached the man with a tiny smile, "Yeah, I'm starving"

………………..

"So, are you sure the kid is staying with Mustang?"

Basque Grand glanced at the Fuhrer and nodded, "Yeah, it had been confirmed"

Bradley drew a wide and pleased smile, "Then everything is going on as planned"

"However", the Brigadier General said frowning, "I have to tell you, Sir, Mustang is not stupid. He will suspect if we just let him have the kid"

The Fuhrer nodded, "I see. Do you think we shouldn't make his life so easy?"

"Yes, they already found information regarding the boy. Insignificant, but they managed to do it"

"I think he suspects already anyway", the man said standing up from his chair and leading to the window, "Since they took over the lab so easily and the fact that they found information about the kid inside the headquarter"

Basque Grand stared at him for a moment before he stood up at his side, "Aren't you worried about this, sir?"

"Not really. Even if he finds out the truth, it will be already too late. I'll make sure of that"

The Brigadier General nodded, "Have you heard something about the Alchemists Union?"

"The same. They're after the boy too, but I think they know that what we have done was for the best, so they will wait until the kid is ready"

"So basically we will have to be after them to be the first to catch the boy when he is ready"

Bradley nodded, "Basically"

Basque Grand stared at the window for a moment, but then turned around, "Then I'll pay a visit to Mustang this afternoon"

The man saluted the Fuhrer and left the office closing the door behind him while Bradley smiled looking through at the sky through the window. Yeah, everything was going as planned.

…………

"So"

Edward took a sip of his orange juice and swallowed it before he glanced at Roy waiting for the question, "So…"

The man stared at his golden eyes for a second before he continued, "Why do you feel you need to hide your arm?"

The kid sighed and remained silently taping his fingers in the table. Roy respected his silence assuming the boy was deciding whether to tell the man or not about the automail, "…I…Well, It's not that I want to hide it…"

"…But?", Edward looked up at the man and bit his lip, but the his face told Mustang that he didn't know how to tell what he wanted to say, so he took a step forward, "How did you….?"

Ed drew a painful smile, "That's why I don't want anyone to see it…I don't want to tell the 'how' or 'why'"

Roy was slightly surprised by the answer, but merely nodded, "I understand"

Both ate in silence hearing just the voice of the people around them; Edward avoiding the man's onyx eyes slightly ashamed, although he didn't know why. Roy just decided to keep quiet, he was sure the blonde would talk to him when he was ready…or sooner than he thought.

"I lied to you…slightly"

The man flinched at the sudden comment, but stared at the kid with a confused gaze, "What do you mean?"

"I-I truly didn't know about my name…but I had had dreams about my past, before I got into the lab…", he said with a hollow voice, so Roy stop eating and heard at the boy attentive, "My mom died, that's why they could take me to the lab without too much troubles"

The man nodded understandingly, but didn't say a word so the kid would keep talking without interruptions.

"They always treated me as a lab rat as you witnessed, and they never told me how they found out about my alchemy skill, I'm not sure about that…but", Edward's eyes suddenly become void and his voice lowered until it was almost a whisper, "I thought that if I could bring my mom back, I could go out of there being happy and forget about alchemy"

Roy didn't like where the conversation was heading, but he moved closer to the blonde so anyone could hear his voice.

"When I was 8 years old…I thought I had enough knowledge to bring her back", he continued clenching his fists, "And I tried. As you can guess, I failed…I miserably failed and lost a limb because of that"

The man kept staring at the boy and Ed noticed it so he looked up with a few tears of anger in his eyes. However, the blonde's fists loosened and his face relaxed a bit.

"Why do you look me like that?"

Roy blinked a few times trying to figure out if the voice of the kid was telling him if he was angry, scared or who knows what, but he couldn't tell, "Like what?"

"…Like if you could understand me…not pity or hate for doing something forbidden…"

The man couldn't hold back a smile and he leaned his face on his hand with the elbow on the table, "Maybe because I _do_ understand you"

"…What do you mean?"

Roy closed his eyes, "I lost both of my parents in a train accident when I was 15 years old", he said slowly and quiet, clearly trying to show the kid he was over that now.

Edward lowered his eyes sadly, "I'm sorry"

The man nodded, "I was training for being an excellent alchemist to get the State Alchemist certification, but as you can image, I was devastated. I researched about human transmutation of course and thought I was ready"

The boy's eyes widened…he…he had…?

"However, I just couldn't", the man confessed ashamed with a pitiful smile on his face, "I couldn't stop thinking that my parents would never forgive me if sometime went wrong…they would never forgive the fact that I gave my back to their teachings about life and how I should live it no matter what…in other words, I wasn't brave enough", Roy finished with an even more pitiful laugh.

"…Or stupid enough", the kid added staring at his automail hand.

"Don't be so hard with yourself. You can be a genus and all, but you're still a kid"

Edward snorted, but began to eat again without another word of the matter. Roy was really curious about how the transmutation went and what happened, but that was enough for one day…as if the boy life hadn't been traumatic enough just with the lab. If they would have been responsible and cared about Ed, they would have trained him and this wouldn't have happened surely.

They finished eating and Roy convinced the blonde to try on a vanilla ice cream. He was hesitant to lick on that creamy white stuff, but he didn't regret it.

"Ice cream, eh?", Ed said licking the dessert, "Tastes even better than stew"

"Maybe, but you will get fat if you only eat that"

The kid just ignored him and keep licking the ice cream while Roy grabbed some bags so the boy could eat it comfortably. Both walked in the sidewalk towards the man's house surrounded by a lot of people. Ed tried to walk as close as he could to Roy, but he was oblivious to the fact that the man was frowned.

Edward noticed how the man put one of his gloves on and raised a brow confused, but he almost dropped the ice cream when Roy drew him closer and turned around raising the hand with his fingers ready to snap in front of a man's face.

"Just one step and I won't hesitant"

The man seemed shocked that Roy had noticed he had been following them although they were surrounded by dozens of people. The man glanced at the blonde so the Colonel pulled him behind him.

"To the alley, now!"

The attacker just clenched his teeth, but obeyed the dark-haired man and the three hid in a alley near them with Roy still threatening him with snapping his fingers.

"Who are you? What do you want with the boy?". Of course he didn't say a word, so Roy grabbed him from the collar. "I asked you a question, if you know who I am, you better answer"

Edward saw the eyes of the man and he grabbed Roy's leg trying to hide, he didn't like how the man was looking at him at all. The attacker, however, didn't say anything, so Roy moved him and put his arms on his back.

"I'll take you to the Headquarter, they won't be nice with you as I was"

The man struggled trying to free himself, but Roy didn't let him go and signed Edward to follow him. The kid nodded and grabbed the bags trying to walk as closer as he could to the man: however, he almost jumped in fear when they heard a shot and the attacker fell in the floor death.

Roy immediately pulled the kid behind him and raised his hand looking everywhere to find the shooter, but he was already gone since he couldn't see anybody close. The kid glanced at the man and winced when he noticed the attacker had been shot in the head and there was blood everywhere…blood everywhere…like that time.

The Colonel quickly noticed how the boy had clutch to his pants, so he turned around and noticed the shocked face of the kid. He lifted him in his arms and hurried to reach a phone booth to call the Headquarter when he noticed a lot of people had seen what happened.

After he called, he put down the kid trying to find something to draw a transmutation circle to close the alley so the people would go away, but Edward clapped his hands and created a wall. The man glanced at him, but the boy had his head down and his hair covered his face even thought Roy could hear the sobs coming from him.

Mustang kneeled in front of him and felt his stomached squeezed at the scared face of the kid; he didn't have to ask what was bothering him of course. Without knowing what else to do, the man raised his arms and offered the boy to embrace him with a warm smile on his face. Edward opened his eyes in surprise and bit his lip; He really wanted someone to hug him…but his pride in the other hand…

"Remember, you're still a kid", the man said with a soft voice.

Ed flinched and lowered his head, but he approached him and let the man embrace him in his arms burying his face on Roy's shoulder. The kid smiled between sobs enjoying the moment; his mother surely had hugged him, but he didn't remember and no one else had done it after that. It felt…so good.

A half an hour later, Military personnel were in the place as Roy talked to Hughes since he was a member of the Investigation Division and was assigned to handle the case. Edward was behind him trying hard not to look at the scene even thought Roy was blocking his view.

"So are you sure he wanted Edward-Kun?", Maes said one more time glancing at the dead man.

Roy nodded, "He tried to grab him, I'm sure of that"

Hughes did a 'Mm' sound and turned to see his friend, "Any idea of where the shot came from?"

"I think the shooter was on the top of that store", the Colonel said raising his hand, "I assume someone was watching him so he wouldn't talk"

Before Hughes could say anything, Brigadier General Basque Grand arrived to the place and both man saluted him. The man threw Mustang a harsh look.

"Colonel Mustang, may I have a word with you?"

The man frowned, but nodded, "Ed, please stay with Hughes for a moment, OK?"

The kid glanced at him holding back from yelling a 'NO, DON'T GO' and approached Hughes who grabbed his hand and both watched how the Colonel followed the Brigadier General and both talked for a while. Edward looked up at Hughes and he smiled to him.

"There's nothing to be worried about", the man told him patting his head.

"…I'm a kid but I'm not stupid"

Hughes stared at him slightly surprised by the comment, but sighed, "Yeah, I think you're right"

"You really had any idea who that man is?"

"No, I don't, but we will find out"

The kid glanced at Roy again and noticed that he seemed quite mad, he would really wanted to hear the conversation, but Hughes didn't let his hand go to do it. Finally, after a few minutes, Roy came back with them and Basque Grand got in his car and left the place.

Hughes just raised a brow at the angry face of the Colonel, but tapped the kid's head when he was about to ask why he was mad. Edward looked up and understood that Maes wanted him to remain quiet for now.

"You were right". Hughes said suddenly, "According to the angle of the shot, the shooter was on the roof of that store"

"Did you discover something else?"

"No, it's too soon", Hughes said lifting his glasses, "Tomorrow I'll have more information"

Roy nodded and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder, "Then we will go home"

"…Really?", the man said disappointed, "I thought on invite you to come over home"

The dark-haired of course was expecting that, "I'm sorry Maes, we'll come by another"

Hughes opened his eyes surprised, but nodded, "See you tomorrow then"

Roy turned around and Edward followed him looking at him out of the corner of his eyes. The man was really pissed off, so he wouldn't dare to ask him anything. When they got in Roy's house, the man dropped the bags in the floor, kneeled in front of the kid and grabbed his shoulders staring at his golden eyes.

"Edward, do you want to stay with me?"

The kid blinked a few times trying to repeat the question on his head, "…What do you mean?"

"The Military knows about you of course, and tomorrow they will call you to see what they're going to do with you", the man said clenching his teeth in anger. As if the boy was an object…

"B-but you're in the Military", Ed said feeling slightly scared, "Can't I stay with you?"

"Do you really want to stay with me?", the man asked again and the kid nodded repeatedly with afraid eyes, "Then that's all you have to say tomorrow, OK?"

"What do they want to do with me?"

"Stuck you in an orphanage where they can keep an eye on you, but I convinced them to let you stay with me to train you…and keep an eye on you", the man answered trying to calm down the scared boy. "They just want to ask you tomorrow if you agree with that"

"Why did he just ask me when he was there?"

Roy stood up and grabbed the bags as he walked towards the boy's room, "Because it's the Fuhrer who is concerned about you…oddly enough"

The kid raised a brow, but didn't say anything as they entered the room and Roy began to take out the clothes they had bought. Edward grabbed the crimson coat and tried it on.

"Red really suits you, it's your color"

Edward stared at his reflection while Roy sat down in the bed trying to organize the clothes. He turned around and Roy noticed how the kid's mouth opened, but no sound came from it.

"Something's wrong?"

The boy approached Roy until the man could notice how nervous the blonde was, "You…", he began but closed his mouth again. The dark-haired man looked at him apprehensively telling him to go on, "You…Do you…really want me to stay?"

Roy was a little surprised by the question since he was sure he had been really clear with the fact that he wanted Ed to stay, but maybe the kid wanted to hear it to confirm it was OK, "Yes, I want you to stay"

Edward smiled happily and nodded, "But I don't you to bring a woman every night", he said with a smirk on his face.

The man's eyes widened. He was about to complaint, but he was sure Hughes would scold him if he didn't drop from dating that much with a boy in his house, "…That's unfair"

"I'll allow it Fridays and Saturdays only, just because you're about to become old and probably will never marry if you don't do it soon"

"Hey! This is my house! You cannot not allow anything!", the man snarled, but Edward was already trying on his new shoes. "Are you listening to me?!"

"I'll tell the maid I'm hungry", he said storming out of the bedroom leaving a shocked Roy inside.

Roy sweat dropped. Now not only he would have to stop dating that much, but he would have to take care of a kid who didn't have a little respect from him. "COME BACK HERE SHORTY!"

He heard the 'WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL' scream of the boy from the first floor and smirked amused. Well, this was going to be fun, who cared about girls?


	7. Trust me

I'm sorry for taking so long, but school has been pretty hard on us D: Anyway, as I gift for being late, I give you the cover of this fanfic :D The link it's in my profile as always! Thank you for all your reviews!!!

"**Trust me"**

"Edward, wake up"

The kid growled displeased but forced his eyes to open…managing to half opening them only of course, "…What?"

"We have to go to the Headquarter in one hour, you have to get up"

Ed glanced at the clock, it was 7:00 a.m. Well, it was not that early anyway, so he sat up, yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Hurry up, breakfast is ready. Bundle up, it's cool outside"

Roy left the bedroom and the boy stood up still half sleep and searched through his brand new clothes. Of course he was going to wear the crimson coat, but besides that he just grabbed a turtle necked long sleeved shirt, some pants and shoes. A few minutes later, he entered the dining room where the man was already eating some fruits and drinking coffee, so he took a seat in front of him.

"Coffee is bad for your liver, you know?", Ed said as the maid laid down his breakfast, "You shouldn't drink it every day"

"Come on, give me a break. It's just coffee", the man said taking a sip of his cup.

Edward smiled and began to eat his food. It was delicious, so he ate fast grabbing all the toast he could while Roy smiled.

"You shouldn't eat that fast, if bad for your digestion, you know?"

The blonde stopped eating and glanced at the man annoyed. He hated when Roy used his own words back to him. Both finished their breakfast and soon they were walking towards the Headquarter in silence, the blonde glancing around noticing all the people opening their stores or walking towards their jobs.

"Why don't you have a car?", he asked Roy suddenly.

"I don't need it. Besides, it's healthier if I just walk"

Ed didn't ask further since that made sense and he kept looking around. However, he glanced at Roy out of the corner of his eyes for a moment. He seemed happy, greeting everyone he knew, some of them asking who the kid was, asking why he had been gone for so long. So he had a lot of friends, so why did Ed have the idea that he seemed…lonely?

"You'll like my crew. If you're going to live with me you'll have to deal with them", the man said making the boy jump slightly.

Edward merely nodded as Roy waved his hand to greet an old woman from one of the stores. "What's your job about?"

Roy glanced at the blonde surprised by the question, "My job? In times of peace, it's about signing papers…quite boring actually"

"Why don't you quit then?", the kid asked narrowing his eyes unable to understand his logic.

"Well…the money is great…". The man almost laughed at Ed's funny face due to the answer, "I'll tell you later, we are almost there"

Edward raised a brow, but remained quiet as they reached the big building and the man greeted the guards and they stared at the kid confused. Inside the Headquarter the scene was the same, officers staring at the blonde and muttering things, Roy could swear someone said that finally he had accepted he had a son since it was impossible he hadn't had one.

They finally arrived to the man's office and he opened the door where his crew was already there just talking…well, Fuery and Breda was talking, Falman was laughing, Havoc was smoking and Riza was just there checking out some papers.

As Roy got into the room, they all stood up and saluted the man, but the men blinked a few times when they saw the blonde walking behind the Colonel.

"Everyone, this is Edward as you already know, he will be staying with me and of course coming to the Headquarter for the time being", Roy said placing a hand on the boy's head which the kid didn't appreciate since he narrowed his eyes. "Edward, they are my crew, Falman, Fuery, Breda, Havoc and Riza"

The blonde bowed his head slightly and the rest smiled. Havoc approached him and bent down with the cigarette on his mouth…which Roy grabbed and throw it away.

"Hey!"

"You won't smoke near him, don't be so careless"

Havoc just growled at the crew laughs, but glanced at the kid, "Are you staying with him?", he asked him aiming a finger towards Roy. Ed just nodded, "I give you 5 bucks for every secret you can find about him"

Roy smacked him on the head as Breda, Fuery and Falman laughed. Edward tried hard not to laugh, but Riza approached him with a soft smile.

"Had he treated you well?"

The Colonel raised a brow slightly hurt, "How you can you ask him that? If course I treat him well!"

Edward smirked and Mustang's face darkened funnily. So, he was somewhat afraid of that woman for some reason, he would use that when he felt it was needed. However, he decided to be good to Roy for now, "Yeah, he's nice with me. He bought me clothes"

Riza blinked a few times confused by his answer as the rest of the crew, Roy included. Of course they weren't expecting such polite answer. "OK then", the woman said finally with a soft smile.

"Everyone, back to work", Roy commanded suddenly approaching the huge book shelve he had on there. His crew stared at him confused, but they did as ordered. Of course that meant Riza left the office to bring him even more paperwork.

The Flame Alchemist read the titles of some books for a moment while Edward took a seat in the couch not sure what he was supposed to do there, but soon the man signed him to follow him to one of the tables and laid down at least 7 books.

"Your training start now, you're going to read all these first and more are in their way after you're finished"

Edward was surprised, but he gladly nodded and sat down at the table opening one of the books. Roy noticed how fast the boy was immerged into the words reading them fast, but before he went further, he read the other's books titles and opened another one as he was comparing the information…or something.

Satisfied, the man reached his desk and began to read the papers and sign them, but sighed when Riza entered the office carrying even more paperwork. It was like he was condemned to write his name to the eternity. Luckily, Hughes was behind Riza with a folder in his hand, so than could only mean distraction.

"Good morning", the man said waving his hand, but smiled when he saw the depressed face of Roy, "Hating routine?"

"You have no idea"

Hughes smiled and sat down at the table, "Well, then I have some news about yesterday"

"…Already?", Roy said surprised, but he moved the papers away to focus on the man's information, "Tell me"

"…The thing is…there's nothing to 'tell'", he said as he handed him the folder, "We couldn't find _anything_ about the attacker"

The Colonel raised a brow and opened the folder, "What do you mean?"

"There's no name, security number, driving license, anything. This man doesn't exist"

"…You have to be kidding me, that's not possible"

"Well, actually…"

Roy looked up at his friend and narrowed his eyes, "Actually what?"

Hughes turned around and noticed that Mustang's crew where discussing something…well, they were saying something about a bet.

"I have seen this before…and he turned to be a member of the Alchemists Union. Or at least he confessed that"

"Alchemists Union? Those freaks are still around there?", Roy said almost angrily.

"And they will be", Hughes muttered, "I'm concerned that they know about the boy"

Roy tapped his finger thoughtfully for a moment, but then he directed his eyes towards the blonde "I'm more concerned about why they would want him"

The L. Colonel glanced at the boy surprised that he was there, but stood up and approached him. "Hello there"

Edward flinched and turned around to see the man for a few seconds before he said something, "H-hi"

"What are you studying for?", Hughes asked him checking out the tittles.

"Mustang-San told me this was my training, but they're quite interesting anyway"

"Training? That's sounds boring", he said laughing friendly and grabbing something from his pocket, "Why don't take a look of my beautiful daughter Elysia?"

The boy looked at the picture that Hughes almost stuck on his nose and sweat dropped at the man's sickly sweet voice. Roy just shook his head, but kept reading the document his friend brought. It was true, the finger prints of the attacker didn't link him to any name or identity which worried him a lot.

However, before he could think further about the subject, the door opened and Brigadier General Basque Grand showed up with two subordinates behind him. Everyone stood up and saluted the man as he walked towards Edward.

"Come with us, boy"

Roy's eyes widened and approached the confused kid still saluting Basque Grand, "I'm sorry sir, but _Edward _will feel more comfortable if I go with him"

The Brigadier General glared at the man making it clear that he was being disrespectful, so he stepped aside unwillingly. Ed felt a shiver along his spine when the man's eyes found his, but he had to be brave since Roy was already worried.

The kid left the room behind the men and walked through the hallway trying to control his nervousness, he wasn't sure why he was nervous in the first place. They went upstairs reaching the top of the building where there was a huge impressive door which the Basque Grand knocked it and opened it.

Edward stared at the smiling man who had stood up and approached the Brigadier General talking to him in whispers. However, he soon walked towards the blonde and he held back the urge to run away from the place.

"Hi Edward", the man said with a kind voice that didn't suit him at all, "It's nice to meet you"

The kid stood there confused, what should he said to that? Nice to meet you too? Luckily, Basque Grand seemed to be in a hurry.

"Sir, I have to leave the Headquarter in a few minutes"

Bradley nodded and kneeled in front of the blonde, "So, I heard that Colonel Mustang saved you from that awful laboratory"

Ed raised a brow…why the man talked to him as he had 5 years old?, "Yes…sir"

The Fuhrer smiled softly, "And now you're staying at his house?", the blonde just nodded feeling totally uncomfortable, "Why would be that?"

"Why?", the boy asked confused.

"Yes, why did the Colonel ask you to stay at his house?"

Edward remained silently for a moment thinking over what Roy had told him, "He just…wanted. We became….friends"

Bradley nodded, but of course he wasn't convinced, "It's odd, you know? Are you sure that is the reason? Anything to do with the fact that you're not…an ordinary boy?"

The blonde flinched and his eyes widened. However, he did his best effort to remain calm and shook his head, "No sir"

The Fuhrer then stood up and patted his head, "Do you want to stay with him?"

"…Yes"

"Then you can go", the man finally said raising his hand.

Edward turned around and ran out of the office while the Fuhrer's smile shifted into a evil smile and Brigadier General looked at him confused.

"We'll see if Mustang is really qualified for this"

Roy was staring at the window moving his foot impatiently waiting for the kid. This was so wrong, he couldn't understand why he couldn't be present if they were going to ask him just one question. Something was wrong.

And it really was when he saw shocked how Edward was running towards the entrance of the Headquarter. Without giving it a second thought, Roy stormed out of the office and ran as fast as he could hoping he wouldn't lose the boy, he would wonder about what happen later.

The man left the building and turned his right where he was sure the kid had run, however, he soon had to stop since he didn't know where to go after that and he couldn't see the boy anywhere. He clenched his teeth and reached a phone booth almost slamming the door shut.

……….

Edward sighed and climbed a tree at the park trying to have some rest safely. He had run for who knows how long, but he was sure he was far from the Headquarter…far from Roy. How could he have been so stupid?

Of course it was so good to be true…The man hadn't asked him to stay at his house because they were friends, it was a stupid reason, at least now he thought it was stupid. Roy was interested in his power, that was all. He was like everybody else.

But…but maybe he had wanted to believe because Roy had been nice with him, as anybody before had been. Damn it, maybe he should have talked to him first, but he couldn't be sure that the man was telling him the truth; they knew each other for two months only after all.

Edward sighed again in resignation and was about to laid down in the thick branch when he noticed a man was staring at him from below. He tried to recognize him, but nothing came to his mind.

"…Can I help you?", the blonde asked him finally.

The man drew a smile, but it wasn't a nice smile…"You shouldn't have run away, Edward, you were safe with the Colonel"

'That voice…Why is it familiar?'

"You know? You don't look anything like Trisha"

The kid's eyes widened. The voice…that voice…nightmares, thousandths of nightmares about the day his mom died and that voice was there. That could only mean…Edward jumped from the tree and stared at the man shocked, but he quickly clapped his hands and transmuted a blade aiming it towards the man.

"Y-you", Ed said clenching his teeth, "YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!"

The man smiled wickedly, "Oh, I'm touched. You did remember me"

However, before Ed could react, the man grabbed the blade a transmutation circle in the back of his hand was activated and the blade transmuted in tiny pieces.

"Do you really think you have a chance against me?"

Edward backed up thinking how to stop the man from approaching him as fast as he could, but the only thing he could think of was to run, so he did. The man frowned and touched the grass transmuting a wall in front of the blonde.

"Come on, don't make this even more difficult", the man said approaching him.

The blonde was scared. He didn't know how to fight and the fear clouded his mind, but decided not to give up and transmuted his automail into a blade at his back.

"I'm a better alchemist than you are, anything you are thinking of doing will be worthless"

"Why do you kill my mom", Edward asked him backing up until he bumped into the wall.

"I didn't want to kill her, but you"

The boy's eyes widened. It was his fault then…"And who the hell are you?!"

The man stopped in front of the boy and smiled pleased, "Well, since you're going to die today, it doesn't matter if I tell you. My name if Shou Tucker, I'm a member of the Alchemists Union"

The man grabbed a knife from his belt, but Edward took his chance in that second to attack him with his automail cutting him in the chest. Tucker moaned in pain and dropped the knife so Edward kicked it so the man couldn't reach it.

He ran as fast as he could without looking back trying to get out of the already dark park, he would be safe if he could find people.

"STUPID KID! COME BACK HERE!"

The boy closed his eyes and kept running hearing the pants of pain of the man. Finally, he was able to see the end of the park and got out but stopped suddenly since there was a street in front of him and cars passing by.

He looked back, but the man was already gone or still inside the park. Relieved, he tried to catch his breath and calm down to decide what he was going to do next, but he jumped when a car stopped in front of him. He was about to run again, but a known voice made him glance at the driver who was getting out of the car; it was Havoc.

"Hey kid, we have been looking for you for the entire day!", the man snarled annoyed approaching him, "Where have you been?!"

"…I-I..", Edward glanced at the park once again. This time he noticed that Shou was looking at him hid behind a tree, but since Havoc wasn't a alchemist and had come alone, he decided to keep his mouth shut, "I'm sorry"

"Get in, the Colonel is going to kill himself soon if he doesn't know that you're alright"

The boy blinked a few times, but he couldn't hold back a smile, "…I'm so stupid"

…………

Roy was staring at the boy, both sit down at the table of the dining room at his home. Edward had lowered his head using his bangs as shield, away too embarrassed to look up.

"So, are you going to tell me why you ran and disappeared?", the man said trying to remain calm, but Ed didn't say anything, "I think I deserve a explanation"

Finally, the blonde raised his head holding back his tears, "I'm sorry"

The man didn't say a word for a moment noticing how Ed averted his eyes ashamed, so he sighed and stood up approaching him. Suddenly, the boy felt how the Colonel smacked his head.

"HEY!", the kid snarled angrily.

"Bradley told you something and you believed him, didn't you?", Roy told him crossing his arms. Edward just stared at him and lowered his head again, so the man uncrossed his arms and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder, "It's OK, I know it's hard to trust someone"

"…Then why did you hit me?!"

"Because now I'm behind on my paperwork and Riza is going to shoot me if I don't finish them tomorrow!"

"It's not my fault that you're so slow and lazy!"

"I had to look after you all the day you dumb head!"

"I was running from you! Was I supposed to give you my itinerary?!"

In that moment, both noticed that the maid was staring at them with food on her hands, so both took a seat quietly as anything happened. The woman laid down the dished and almost ran out of the dining room afraid that they would begin to yell at each other again. Roy just sighed.

"Are you sure you're ok?", he asked the blonde.

Edward quickly nodded…maybe too quickly. He had worried the man enough for one day, so he didn't say anything about Tucker. The boy clenched his fist below the table at the thought of the man and for the first time on his short life, he really wanted to kill.

"Something's wrong?"

Ed relaxed and glanced at Roy, "It's just that I'm not sure why I believed that man's words after all you have done for me", he lied. Well, that wasn't a lie of course, but it wasn't what he was thinking about.

"It's OK, believe, I wouldn't trust me if I had been you", the man said with a smile, "It's hard for me to trust people"

Edward narrowed his eyes thoughtfully trying to choose his words correctly, "Then why do you expect that I'll trust you…that you just want to help me"

Roy raised a brow and left the cup of tea he had grabbed, "Why did Bradley tell you?". The kid lowered his gaze and scratched his head, this was enough for the man to understand, "He said something about your alchemy, didn't he?"

"…Kind of"

The Colonel frowned and clenched his fist holding back the desire to slam the table. Damn men, he should have thought that they would say something like that, "Edward, do you trust me?"

The kid's golden eyes meet Roy's obsidians eyes. Ed had never had any doubts about that, he truly wasn't sure how he could consider the idea that Mustang wanted to help him just to take advantage of him and his alchemy. The blonde nodded with a confident smile, so Roy did the same.

"You're behind in your training too by the way, I'll give you 10 more books tomorrow at least", the mad added suddenly before he took a sip of his tea. "And you own me 20 bucks since I bet Havoc and Breda that I would take good care of you…and you got lost already. Fuery and Falman lost too".

Edward sweat dropped, but then smiled happily. "Sure"

………..


	8. I can and I will

So, what can I say? XD I don't think sorry is enough, but sadly, things are going to be this way from now on, school is being pretty hard / However, the story will continue, I can guarantee that! Thank you for all your reviews! You make me so happy :D!

"**I can and I will"**

Edward was in the middle of a dark place panting, his eyes wide scared. He began to run trying to find a way out, but he felt he had searched for hours and the place didn't seem to have an end. The blonde stopped again and looked everywhere in hope he would find how to get out of there, but there wasn't anything but darkness. He really hated the darkness.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming closer and tried to see who was approaching, but he couldn't see anyone there and became even more nervous. His instincts told him to transmute his automail, so he did and waited trying to control how his hands were shaking in fear.

Several seconds went by and he was about to scream to the person to hurry up, but finally his eyes caught a human figure walking patiently towards him. The boy narrowed his eyes trying to see who it was and noticed it was woman…a woman with brown long hair…a woman with a soft and warm smile.

"…Mom?"

She nodded and raised her arms to embrace to boy who was smiling happily with tears on his eyes. He transmuted his automail back and ran towards her feeling like he was to burst in tears of joy any second. However, he stopped shocked. His mother had disappeared and in her place there was the monster he had transmuted…the monster the Gate had given him in exchange for his arm.

"…No…NO!"

The kid fell backwards with wide eyes and shaking uncontrollably in fear as the monsters spit blood and tried to move.

"Go away! GO AWAY!!"

"Edward!"

"PLEASE! GO AWAY!"

"EDWARD!"

Ed shut his eyes open and sat up almost hitting Roy with his head. The man stared at him worried since the kid was really agitated and sweating, but he had to wave his hand in front of his golden eyes to catch the blonde attention.

"Edward, are you ok?"

The boy gasped when he realized that Roy was in front of him, which could only mean…"I'm sorry, I woke you up, didn't I?"

"Don't worry about that", the man said softly as he sat down in the bed, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, of course", the kid said with a hollow smile, "I'm used to have nightmares"

"…what are they about?", Roy risked, but regretted a second later when the kid's face darkened and lowered his head. However, when he was about to apologize for the intrusion, Edward looked up with a tiny smile.

"I always dream about the…transmutation"

The man couldn't help but pity the boy. He was sure it must be horrible, and the fact that he kept having nightmares about that…it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair at all.

"It's ok, really", the boy said suddenly with a ashamed smile, "Go back to sleep"

"I can't sleep if I have a scared girl next to my room", he said smirking.

Edward smirked too and threw himself against the pillow, "Go away, I want to sleep"

"Me too. Good night"

Roy smiled at the boy and got out of the bedroom turning off the lights. The boy glanced at the door and laid down again with a sad face…scared would be more accurate actually. He was scared. He had that nightmare every now and then woke up with a start unable to fall sleep again, so tomorrow he would have a big bag under his eyes. Edward stood up and turned on the lights trying to calm down, but he just felt shivers along his spine. He grabbed one of the books Roy had given him, but he closed it immediately…he wasn't in the mood to alchemy right now. Actually, he wanted to forget about alchemy for now. Quietly, he left his bedroom and went downstairs to turn on the TV as low as he could.

He sat down in the floor and hugged his legs trying to focus on the boring TV show and forget about everything, but he was finding hard to do it. Edward sighed and glanced around, but the darkness in the house made him even more nervous. Maybe he should go to bed and try to sleep…

However, the kid heard footsteps coming from the upper floor and he straightened up and turned off the TV. He saw Mustang appearing slightly confused and turned on the lights when he noticed the blonde on his feet in the middle of the living room completely blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry…I thought the sound was low enough"

"I'm a light sleeper", the man said approaching him, "But what're you doing down here? We have to get up early tomorrow, you know that"

Edward averted his gaze and merely nodded, but Roy wouldn't give up that easily.

"You can't sleep?"

The kid gasped and tried to hide his even more blushed face. He felt totally out of character, where was the confident, stubborn and brave Edward Elric?

"There's nothing to be ashamed of", Roy said suddenly at the boy's lack of words, "Come on"

"…Where?", Ed said finally looking up confused.

Roy drew a soft smile, "Just come with me"

And the blonde did. Both went upstairs and the man leading him towards what the kid guessed was his room and opened the door. Roy entered the bedroom, but Edward remained at the door frame for a moment before he noticed there were two beds in the room.

"Why do you have two beds?"

"I didn't", Roy said throwing a pillow over the other bed, "I transmuted yours here"

Ed stared at him for a second repeating what the man had just said on his head. "I'm not sleeping in your room, I'm not a baby", the kid said stubbornly.

"Well, there's no bed over you room, so if you prefer to sleep in the floor, be my guest", Roy said quietly as he walked towards the blonde who had growled and crossed his arms. "I know you're not a baby, but you're a kid"

"So?"

The dark-haired man kneeled in front of him and placed a hand in the boy's shoulder, "Kids needs adult company to feel safe sometimes, it doesn't matter how brave they are"

The kid rolled his eyes, so Roy smirked and laid down on his own bed as Edward got in his. Both didn't say a word, they just stared at the ceiling roof in silence for a few minutes. The blonde glanced at Roy out of the corner of his eyes to check if he was already slept, but he wasn't. Roy noticed the boy's movement and smirked.

"Are you waiting until I fall sleep to run to your room?"

Edward narrowed his eyes, "No, besides, you said you were a light sleeper"

"Yeah…try to sleep or tomorrow you won't be able to read all the books I'm going to give you"

The blonde growled, but he pulled the sheet and moved giving his back to Roy, so the man smiled and tried to sleep…which wasn't that hard since his eyes were fighting to close.

…………..

Edward yawned and fixed his red coat since the cold air of the morning made him shiver. Roy glanced at him and smirked.

"I told you to wear the wood hat"

"I don't like hats", the kid said moving his head so his bangs would cover his ears, "It's not that cold"

"Whatever you say"

Ed just frowned but kept walking in silence, his arms crossed. The kid rolled his eyes when the man stopped to buy some coffee, but he was surprised when the man gave him a cup of hot chocolate.

"I hope you like it", the man said before he took a sip of his coffee.

The boy stared at the Chocolate for a moment before he tested it. I wasn't bad, at all. When both began to walk again towards the Headquarter, Roy noticed two blond kids walking at the sidewalk in front of them, so he raised his hand.

"Winry-Chan! Al-Kun!"

Both blondes turned to see who was calling at them and smiled when they saw the dark-haired man. They hurried to approach him while Edward stared at them slightly behind Roy as he wanted to hide with the cup on his hands.

"Mustang-San, when did you come back?", the girl said with happy smile.

"Sunday I think, I already saw your grandmother the other day", Roy said with a sickly sweet voice that made Edward raise a brow, "How have you been?"

"Great!", the boy said with a victory sign on his hand, "I've read all the books you gave me!"

Roy nodded, "Then I'll give new ones", he said as he grabbed Edward's arm and pulled him, "I want you to meet Edward, my…nephew. They are Winry and Al, they're cousins"

Ed sweat dropped, but immediately felt how his face blushed when both blondes stared at him for a moment before they smiled happily, "Nice to meet you!", both said at once.

"…Nice to meet you too"

"You better go or you will be late for school", Roy said suddenly.

"You're going to be late too, Mustang-San", Winry said teasingly, but both kids laughed and ran towards the school which wasn't far from there.

Roy began to walk again and Edward followed him somewhat confused, but he wasn't sure why.

"Why do you know those kids?"

"They live with the girl's grandmother who happens to be close to my house", the man said moving the cup of coffee, "I know them since they had 5 years"

The kid just did a 'Mm' sound and blew his chocolate since the Headquarter was close and he wouldn't have time to drink it. He had a lot to read today.

……………..

"Sir, are you sure Mustang will be able to protect the kid from the Alchemists Union?"

The Fuhrer stared at Basque Grand and Raven tapping his hands thoughtfully as he was analyzing the situation. Well, he didn't expect the stupid members of the Union to attack the kid.

"Yeah, I'm positive", he said flatly so any of the two men wouldn't ask again, "But I don't understand why do they still want to kill the boy"

"The rumors were just that then, just rumors", Raven said with a smirk, "They never intended to use the boy"

Bradley just nodded in agreement, "We will have to be extra careful then. I know Mustang will take good care of him but we must keep our eyes open"

Basque Grand stood up and saluted the man, "Sir, I have to go, a squad if going to arrive any minute from the riot of the North"

"You're dismissed, Brigadier General

The man nodded and turned around to left the office. Raven stared at the Fuhrer, who had a wide smile on his face.

"You seem pretty confident about all this, but I'm worried that Mustang would find about everything before the kid is ready"

"He won't, I'll made sure of that personally"

Raven smirked again and stood up, "I hope you're right, this could be our ruin"

The Fuhrer smirked him back and dismissed the man. Bradley just smiled satisfied even thought his subordinates were feeling so unsecure, but it didn't matter. He had everything under control, so he opened a folder since he had work to do.

…………..

Edward hit his head against a book and fell over the table feeling numb. He had been in the same position for hours reading book after book while Roy signed papers and the crew were doing…something. The kid wasn't sure what they were supposed to do getting in and out of the office and talking to Roy.

The man noticed how the kid had his head over the table, so he stood up and approached him patting his back, "You should take a rest", Roy said glancing at the books, "I wasn't joking about the 15 books for today, you know? How many have you read already?"

Edward snorted exhausted, "Like…8 I think"

"...What?"

The blonde sat up and glanced at Roy with confused eyes, "What…what?"

"…8 books? You must be kidding", the man said checking out the books, "It's impossible, you've been here only 5 hours"

"I'm not kidding", Edward answered almost growling at the man's accusation, "I've read all these", he added pointing a pile of books.

Roy merely stared at the books with wide eyes. He found hard to believe, but the offended face of the boy told him he better believed him or he would get utterly mad, "Well…then you _must _take a break"

"…But what am I going to do here?"

"Go to the cafeteria, to the gardens, I don't know", Roy said closing the book the kid was reading, "Just go outside"

Riza then approached them with some folders on her arms making clear that she had brought more paperwork for Roy, "You could go and make some company to Black Hayate, my dog", she said with a soft smile, "He loves being in the gardens, but he is alone most of the time"

Edward moved his brow as he was analyzing the idea, but a few seconds later he drew a smile and nodded. "I'll go then"

The kid left the office in a hurry as Roy glanced at the books again amazing by the boy capability on retaining information. However, he remembered Riza was there and he turned to see her…and sweat dropped when he noticed how much paperwork she had brought.

"I'm sorry, sir", she said not really meaning it.

"…Yeah, I know", he said resigned as he grabbed the folders and walked towards his desk.

Edward found the dog sleeping under a tree shadow and sat at his side not quite sure if he should awake him. What was his name again?...Black something… Well, the dog wasn't an adult yet, but neither a puppy, so he moved him gently and backed up immediately. Black Hayate woke up and yawned, so Ed got closer and patted his head.

"Hi, I'm Edward"

Black Hayate moved his tail happily and stood up, so the blonde clapped his hand and touched the ground to transmute a ball and play with the dog. The air was fresh and the smell of the trees and grass always made him felt revitalized when he was sick of the lab…and here wasn't that different. He loved being outside.

The kid flinched and clenched his fists suddenly at the thought of what happened yesterday. He had been afraid of course, but he had been more scared of his thoughts…He really had wanted to kill the man. A shiver went along his spine and squeezed his eyes shut…no, he wasn't a murderer like that man…his mom would hate him if he became one…

The dog then brought the ball back and Ed threw it again as far as he could enjoying how funny the dog looked with his long tongue outside, maybe it was better to forget about that for now and focus in his training. He would make that man pay one day without killing him, he swore that for his life. However, the next time he threw the ball, it fell in the lap of the man who was sitting in the grass and leaned against a tree. The blonde approached the man and bowed repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, Sir"

The man looked up with a bored expression on his face and threw the ball which Edward grabbed it almost letting it fell in the grass.

"Be careful, kid", the man growled closing his eyes and leaning against the tree again.

"I'm sorry", Ed said again pulling Black Hayate since the dog didn't seem to like the man.

"What's a kid doing here anyway?", he asked suddenly before Edward turned around.

"…I…", Edward wasn't expecting that question and tried to come up with a convincing lie…and failing miserably, "I'm Musta -… Colonel Mustang's nephew"

The man smirked, but didn't say another word. Ed raised a brow confused, but then noticed the silver chain the man had on his belt.

"Are you a State Alchemist?"

He glanced at the blonde proudly and took out his silver watch, "Yes, I'm the Crimson Alchemist"

"Crimson?", the kid repeated

The man nodded and looked around as he was looking for something. The man smirked when he saw a bee coming his way, so he caught the insect between his hands and a second later let it go. However, the bee blew off like a small bomb in front of Edward's eyes.

"I can create bombs with living things", the man said quite disturbingly.

"That's…amazing", Edward said unable to say anything else. An alchemist that transmuted bombs? No doubt why he was in the army….

"Edward-Kun!"

The kid turned around and saw Hughes moving his hand indicating him to approach the man, so he bowed his head and walked towards the L. Colonel who grabbed his hands with Black Hayate following them.

"Edward, don't get close to that man, ok?", Hughes told him lifting his glasses.

"Why?", he asked curious, patting the Hayate's head as the dog tried to lick his hand, "He can't be dangerous if he is here, can he?"

"…It's not that he is dangerous…it's just that…", Hughes glanced at the boy and noticed that he had raised a brow, "…Just don't get near him, alright?"

Ed sighed in resignation and glanced at the dog, "Do you want to eat something?"

The dog barked happily and moved his tail as he understood what the boy had said.

………….

Roy tasted the dinner and decided it was done already. He glanced at the boy who was deeply slept in the couch with books around him. They had been discussing about alchemy all the afternoon and he noticed amused how fascinated the blonde was with his new knowledge. He remembered when he was learning alchemy…Edward was so much like him in that aspect.

He felt bad to wake up the kid, but he had to eat something after how hard he had worked, so the man walked towards the snoring boy. However, Roy suddenly stopped and clenched his fists.

"Who are you?"

He heard a low laugh at his back and footsteps approaching him. "You're good, Roy Mustang, I thought it would take you longer to notice me"

Roy turned around and frowned, "I asked who are you?"

"Little Edward hadn't told you about me?", the man said lifting his glasses, "I'm hurt"

The Colonel put his hand on his pocket, "If you don't answer, I'll attack you"

"Alright, alright", he said drawing a malicious smile, "The name's Shou Tucker"

Roy took out the hand of the pocket with his white glove on, "Member of the Alchemists Union, am I right?"

Tucker smirked amused, "Smart man"

"What do you want?"

The man glanced at the blonde, so Roy moved to hide Edward with his body, "I think you can guess what I want"

The dark-haired man smirked too, "I think you can guess that I won't let you"

"You know the Military has plans for that boy I assume", the man said erasing his smile and frowning, but clenched his fists when Roy nodded, " And I know you care about him, so why are you keeping him so close to the Military?"

"I'm not keeping him close to the Military, I'm keeping him close to me", the man said flatly and Tucker smiled amused.

"You really believe you can protect him?"

"I can", the man said confident, "And I will"

"So", Tucker began grabbing his jaw thoughtfully, "Do you give your word that the Military will never put a hand over the kid?"

Roy stared at him for a few seconds. Of course he was sure he could protect the kid, but that man was asking him to take care of Edward?, "Why does the Alchemists Union want this boy?"

"We just want to keep the boy away from the Military hands", the man said trying to glance at Edward, but Roy moved again to hide him.

"You just want to kill him, don't you?"

"If that keeps him from being used by the Military, yes", Tucker confirmed with a wide smile, "But since you've proved that want to give him a chance, I'll take that into account"

Roy frowned as the man laughed quietly but maliciously. However, the Colonel turned around when he heard Edward's voice calling him.

"Mustang-San? What's wrong?", the blonde asked sitting up with his eyes half closed and running a hand through his hair trying to fix it.

Mustang blinked a few times before he glanced at Tucker…but the man wasn't there anymore. He clenched his teeth, but tried to draw a smile before he turned to the blonde who was already on his feet rubbing eyes.

"Dinner is ready", he said ruffling the boy's hair.

The kid growled lazily but nodded and walked towards the dining room while Roy stood there watching him. Of course he knew the Military had plans for him, that was the main reason he had decided to take care of him…of course he had forgotten about a one small important detail. What would happen next? Will Edward live with him from now on? He will have to raise him?

Roy shook his head trying to forget about that subject. He had to find out why the Military was interested in the blonde first…then he will have time to think about that.

"Are you going to stay there?", the boy pointed out as he laid down a dish with food in the table, "The dinner isn't going to fly all the way to you, you know?"

The man smiled and walked towards the kitchen, "You're annoying, you know?"

Edward just grinned and held his hair in a ponytail before he began to eat. Roy took a seat in front of the blonde and watched him eat for a moment. Maybe it was better that Ed didn't know anything about what he knew…he was a kid, he deserved to live happily without being worried. And he would work hard to give him that chance.

…………….


	9. Joy and Disaster

Ho, I know! I'm so late! But I really didn't have time to write since I was so tired from school projects (no homeworks…projects! X.x). 50 reviews already! I can't thank you enough:D You're really my motivation to kept going. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter!

"**Joy and disaster"**

It was Sunday already, that meant he could sleep until late, but the birds on the window woke Edward up. The boy rubbed his eyes and glanced around sweat dropping when he noticed the mess of books and notes Roy and he had left the night before on the living room. Both had fell asleep in the couches since they had studied until very late in the night and they left all the stuff they used in the floor.

Ed yawned and stood up trying not to step on the books, which was hard since there were books everywhere, but he manage to make it to the kitchen. He had learned to make coffee watching the man doing it every day since he didn't let the maid do it; he only liked coffee the way he prepare it. Picky man.

However, when he checked the coffee container, it was empty. Maybe Roy hadn't counted to be awake late at night studying when he bought the coffee since he had drank all of it already. Edward sighed and grabbed the man's wallet and his jacket, if Roy woke up and there was no coffee, the world would suffer surely.

When he was about to close the door, he heard the man's growl – which was supposed to be his name - and he turned around to see a half sleep Roy on the couch trying hard to sat up.

"Where are you going?", Mustang managed to say after he cleared his throat.

"To the store, there's no coffee"

The Colonel glanced at the kitchen where the blonde had left the empty container of the coffee and growled again in annoyance.

"It's just the store, I'll back in a minute", Edward said again pointing outside.

Roy stared at him for a moment. If he didn't let him go the kid would be suspicious of course…but then again, that man said they would let him take care of Edward…After a minute of internal debate, the dark-haired man nodded, so the blonde closed the door.

As he walked towards the store, he greeted all the people that said good morning to him and got into the store finding Roy's favorite coffee brand quickly, paid for it and walked back to the house. However, when he was in front of Pinako's house, he saw Alphonse waving his hand telling him to approach to the fence, so he did.

"Hi!", the kid said with a big smile before he glanced at the bottle of coffee, "Oh no, please don't tell Mustang-San made you addict to coffee"

Edward fought hard the urge to laugh at the comment, "No, I'm just providing him with coffee to help his addiction. Who knows what he is calpable of without coffee on his veins early in the morning"

Al chuckled and Ed grinned amused, but then the kid noticed the hose Alphonse had in his hands.

"What are you doing?"

After he blinked a few times trying to understand what he had asked, Alphonse smiled, "Watering the plants, it's one of my chores"

"I see", the blonde said almost in low voice as he was thinking if he should have chores too…since he was living with the man for free.

In that moment, Winry appeared in the balcony in the second floor holding a big wrench and some stains of something…dark in her face, "Alphonse! Granma and I need some help!"

"I'll be there on a second!"

However, when the girl was about to turn around, she saw Edward and waved his hand happily, "Hi!"

Ed raised his hand shyly since he wasn't used to talk to kids, but these cousins didn't seem that bad and they were…well..friends of Roy…

"Don't you want to come to see how we construct an automail?", the girl asked hugging the giant wrench that made her look rather funny.

"…Automail?"

"Yes! Didn't you look at the sign in the entrance?"

Edward noticed Alphonse was aiming his finger towards a piece of wood that said "Rockbell Automail". He felt how his stomach squeezed, it was obvious that they were oblivious to the fact that he had a automail arm, so he forced a tiny smile and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Mustang-San is waiting for me. I have to go"

"OK, but you must promise that you'll come someday"

The kid nodded and waved his hand and hurried towards Roy's house quite sure the man would get out to look for him any second. And he wasn't wrong, when he was turned in the corner next to the house, the almost bumped into the Colonel.

"It took you long enough", the man said sighing in relief and patting the boy's head.

"I just stop to say hi to Alphonse-Kun and Winry-Chan", he said raising a brow slightly confused by the man's attitude. It was supposed that he didn't know about that Alchemists Union's man…

"…Just let's go home", he said placing his hand on the boy's shoulder.

Both walked towards Roy's house while the man glanced around slightly frowned which confused Edward even more, but he didn't say anything.

"Are you inducing the boy to your bad habit, Roy Mustang?"

Both turned around and saw a woman smiling – or smirking – at them. Ed was sure he heard how Roy snorted.

"Good Morning, Clara"

The woman giggled and glanced at Edward drawing a mischievous smile, "Is he your hidden son?"

Roy rolled his eyes and sighed, "No, he it's my nephew. His name is Edward"

"Ahh, I see", she said with a tone of voice that Edward felt as she was mocking Roy, "Hi there, kiddo, nice to meet you"

The blonde just raised his hand shyly, but lowered it when the man placed a hand on his shoulder, "We have to go, take care Clara"

The woman smirked one more time as both turned around and walked away.

"See you around, Roy!"

However, the man didn't answer and kept walking mad as Ed noticed. Well, that was new.

"What's your problem with her?"

The Colonel flinched at the sudden question, but then averted his gaze, "I really don't want to talk about that, OK?"

"…Alright"

At home, Roy was drinking his coffee while Edward transmuted some pancakes trying to control the heat so they wouldn't burn. The man saw amused how the kid's experiment failed the first three times, but this time he seemed to achieve since the pancake looked delicious.

"Who needs to cook being able to use alchemy", the boy said proudly as he grabbed one of the pancakes, but Roy took it before he could bite it. "Hey!"

"Don't use alchemy that careless. If you can do the things, don't use alchemy", he said before he took a bite of the pancake.

The boy just narrowed his eyes, "Yeah right"

Roy glanced at the clock and noticed it was 10:23 already. When did it become so late? "Let's go out. I don't like to spend my Sundays locked up"

"Out?", the blonde repeated, "Where?"

"We're going to improvise, come on"

Edward smiled excited and went upstairs to take a quick shower as Roy did the same. The man found the situation rather funny…he usually spent Sundays with a woman on a date, but now he was going to spend the day with Edward. Funnily enough, he really enjoyed the time he was with the kid, it was totally different from being with a woman or with Hughes and his family…it was like they understood each other and Roy really liked that.

A few minutes later, they were walking on the sidewalk evading the people that were coming in the opposite direction. Roy smirked when Ed grabbed him discretely from the pant, but he didn't say anything. At least, the blonde would be safe that way.

However, a car parked close to them and Roy glanced at it getting ready to react if needed, but he sweat dropped when he saw a happy Hughes waving his hand. They approached the car and got in since Roy was afraid that Hughes would get out and drag them by the force inside the car.

"Hi back there", the man said looking them by the rear view mirror with a big smile, "Edward-Kun, let me introduce you my beautiful wife Gracia and my gorgeous daughter Elysia"

The woman smiled at him softly hugging her daughter who was sleeping, but Edward just nodded shyly and glanced at Roy whose angriness seemed to have faded when he saw the girl.

"Where were you going anyway?", Hughes asked catching his friend attention.

"We were heading to the Fair", he said checking on his watch, "It should be open by now"

Hughes smiled excited, "That's an excellent idea! Let's go together",

Gracia nodded happily, so Roy just rolled his eyes. It's just that he didn't like to hang out with Hughes, but of course the man was prepared with a camera and he would be a pain in the ass with it, even more if Elysia were there with them.

"What's a Fair?"

Roy looked at the boy raising a brow when he noticed the confused face he had, "You really don't know what a Fair is?"

"It's not like I've visited one", the kid muttered almost growling.

"Then wait a little and you'll know"

Edward growled again and crossed his arms leaning on the back seat. He heard then how the baby woke up and Gracia was shushing her kindly and stared at the woman for a few seconds watching how the baby felt sleep again. His face changed drastically into a sad one and Roy noticed it, but he preferred to keep quit and don't disturb the boy. However, Edward lowered his face using his bangs as a cover and, if he knew well, that could only mean that he was holding back his tears.

He placed a hand on his shoulder trying to give some support to the kid and Edward looked up at him slightly surprised by the man gesture. He didn't know why, but Roy's smile made him feel better, so he tried to be strong and nodded assuring Roy he was ok.

Soon later they arrived at the Fair which was crowed already, but Edward was amazed by the place. Music, games, food…well, Fairs then were a great thing apparently.

"Let's go before more people arrive", Hughes said suddenly taking the boy out of his thoughts.

The five got into the fair, but Roy had to open his eyes since Edward disappeared from his sight a few times because the kid wanted to see some games and how the people play…and lost their money of course.

"Do you want to lose some money too?", Roy asked him since he noticed how the kid stared at the games. Edward just grinned so both approached the booths while Hughes took out his camera.

"You know Roy doesn't like photos", Gracia told him, but the man just smiled widely.

"He will thank you later, you'll see"

The woman just shook his head and his husband began to take picture of how Edward missed the target with the ball several times, lost a fish, but won a plushie that he gave to Gracia for Elysia. A few hours later, they had got in the Wheel of Fortune and a few more games, and now Edwad was eating a sweet apple while Roy talked to Hughes and Gracia. However, the kid saw something that caught his attention and approached a small cage where a small animal was sleeping. It was a little fox which was snoring quietly and the boy stared at it for a moment, he really liked foxes, they use to get in the lab by accident.

A man approached him with a big smile, "If you can hit the three bottles with this riffle, the little guy is yours"

Edward glanced at the targets and sweat dropped. They were too far and his skill with guns was zero, but the poor fox…closed in that small cage. Roy wouldn't want a pet anyay…

However, Mustang approached the vendor and paid for one opportunity. Ed was about to say something but Roy just raised his hand.

"Just watch"

The kid just bit his lip and saw how the man aimed the gun to one of the targets and stood like that for a few seconds. Hughes was prepared to take a picture of the moment and he did it skillfully when he heard the shoot. One of the bottles fell and Edward smiled and clapped amazed, of course he was a good shooter, he was in the army after all. He did the same with the other two targets and the vendor saw shocked how Roy handed him the gun.

"I guess we can take the fox with us, am I right?", the dark-haired man said with a grin.

The vendor just lowered his head defeated, so Roy grabbed the cage and handed it to Edward.

"It will be your responsibility, OK?"

The blonde nodded happily and saw how the little fox was still sleeping, "Thank you"

Roy patted the kid's head and the four headed towards the car to go to eat something…healthy. Hughes put the camera in Gracia's purse and glanced at Roy with a brow raised.

"Don't you think that was considered as cheating?", the man asked slightly amused.

"Why would I? He never said I couldn't participate if I had gun skills"

Hughes just laughed and both glanced at the kid who was carrying the cage carefully, but he seemed very happy.

"I thought you said you wouldn't have pets anymore after that cat"

"…That cat was possessed…I'm sure of that"

Before Hughes could say something to defend the little feline Roy had had once and he had to give away, they heard some horses and laughs behind them followed by some shoots and screams of the people. A band of well-known thieves had arrived armed and scaring the crowd and shooting destroying everything.

Roy took out his gloved and pulled Edward so Hughes could grab his arm. "I'll take care of this, please protect Edward"

Maes nodded and grabbed the kid's hand, but Ed saw worried how Roy disappeared among the scared crowd.

"Come Edward"

The Colonel approached to one of the thieves who was shooting his gun and snapped his hands scaring the horse so he would dump the man. When he tried to recover from the fall, Roy placed his hand in front of his face ready to snap his fingers again, but the thief was away too shocked to react.

"Who's you leader?!"

The man didn't say anything and passed out, so Roy let him there and attacked another of the thieves. However, a big explosion caught his attention and saw terrified how the Wheel of Fortune was falling with people on it and under it. He hurried drawing a transmutation circle on a paper, but he noticed shocked how Edward was running towards the metal structure with Hughes running behind him trying to stop the boy.

His eyes widened when he saw the blonde clapping his hands, "EDWARD! STOP!"

But the kid touched the metal structure that was bending and the Wheel stop falling while the passengers screamed in fear. Hughes stopped behind Ed not sure what he should do and Roy decided to attack the thief that was carrying the bazooka that destroyed the Wheel.

When he was sure the man was immobilized, the Colonel ran towards Edward afraid that it would be too much for the kid alone with the wheel, but then, he noticed something. The blonde had almost transmuted the metal structure to its original form, but something was wrong…

Ed had put both hands on his head and greeted his teeth at the same time the light from the transmutation began to become bigger and bigger. Roy ran towards the kid, but the force of the transmutation kept him from getting close to Edward.

"EDWARD! STOP! YOU HAVE TO STOP!"

The blonde fell on his knees still holding his head, but the transmutation became even stronger. Roy raised a hand to cover his eyes and thought as fast as he could in a way to approach him getting really scared since he didn't know what was happening. The man noticed the transmutation circle he had drawn in the piece of paper and used it to create a hole and a tunnel in the ground.

A few seconds later, he got out of the tunnel exactly in front Edward and hurried to grab him from the shoulders noticing the face of pain the blonde had.

"Edward! What's happening?!"

The kid tried to open his eyes, but he was unable to do it and screwed his eyes shut, "I-I don't…don't know! It hurts!"

"You have to stop!", he said when he heard how the metal structure began to creak dangerously, "Try to focus!"

Edward finally half opened his eyes watching the scared but confident gaze of Roy fixed on him, as he was telling him that he trusted the boy.

"You can do it"

The kid shut his eyes again and screwed them trying to ignore the pain and focus on controlling this power he had never felt before. It was hard, but he had to do it, Roy trusted him on doing it. He just had to.

Finally, Roy saw how the light of the transmutation began to fade quickly until the reaction disappeared. Edward panted with his hands still on his head and opened his eyes to see the smile on Roy's face, so he drew a tiny smile. A second later, he had passed away and the Colonel lifted him carefully running towards Hughes since a lot of people were staring at them confused.

"Call someone to come for the thieves. Let's get out of here", the man said to his best friend who just nodded and headed towards Gracia who was carrying a crying Elysia and guarding the fox in the cage already awake.

A man watched them leave with an interested face which turned into a smile of hope, while the crowd began to wonder what had happened. Then he turned around and disappeared.

Hughes watched at Roy from the rear view mirror and saw how he was checking Edward's vital signs and the Colonel sighed when he was sure the blonde was OK.

"We don't need to go to the hospital; he just has to take some rest"

Gracia turned around and glanced at him with worried eyes, "Are you sure? That was…horrible to say the least"

"I'm sure, Gracia", he said confident, "He will be fine"

Hughes stared at his best friend through the mirror slightly frowned, but Roy just nodded, so the L. Colonel decided to trust on his instincts and take both home. He better be right or the poor kid would suffer the consequences, but Roy rarely made mistakes.

………..


	10. Busy Vacations

"**Busy vacations"**

He suddenly began to hear voices…known voices. He tried to open his eyes but they were as heavy as a huge rock for some reason. Not like he had tried to lift one of course, but still. The blonde decided to hear what they were talking about since he couldn't do anything else.

"I'm not sure…he told me that he could use that kind of alchemy just when he felt his life was in danger", he heard Roy say with a serious voice.

"I don't know how he managed to run away like that", Hughes added with a apologetic voice, "I should have been more careful"

"It wasn't your fault and you know that"

Hughes just nodded silently and glanced at the boy, but a sound caught their attention. The little fox had yawned and now was moving his tail and looked everywhere confused.

"Hey little guy", Hughes told him, "Are you hungry?"

Roy then raised a brow, "…What on Earth are we going to give him for food?"

"Well…I think meat or chicken would be fine", the L. Colonel said lifting his glasses.

"…I should have bought him a dog or something more domestic"

"But you were weak", Maes mocked him, "You're weak when something it's about Edward"

"Shut up"

Hughes tried to pet the fox, but the animal moved and raised his tail making clear he didn't like to be touched, "Or maybe you're right. He doesn't seem domesticated"

"Great"

"Maybe he just doesn't like adults"

Both men turned around and saw Edward incorporated fixing his hair as fast as he could before he drew a big smile.

"Maybe he is possessed like the cat I had", Roy said watching how the fox walked around the house.

Edward shook his head and got up walking towards the little animal. He kneeled in front of him and the fox raised his tail warningly, "Hi there", he said softly staring at the fox's eyes. The animal lowered his tail then, so Ed took this as a sign to grab him. "See, he likes me"

However, the fox suddenly scratched the boy in the face and Edward jumped in pain letting him fall on the floor. Roy tried hard not to laugh, but Hughes slightly failed since he chocked.

"Ok, maybe he is possessed", the blonde said rubbing the injury.

"Then you have a lot of work to do with him", Roy told him smirking as his way to mock the boy.

Edward rolled his eyes and watched how the fox was sniffing everything in the house, he didn't look that happy.

"We took you out of that cage, ungrateful little fox", the kid said when he noticed the scratch on his face was bleeding a little.

"Well, I'll go then", Hughes announced suddenly standing up, "It's already late and Gracia won't appreciate if I arrive even more late"

Roy nodded and the L. Colonel patted Edward's head before he left the house. The kid watched the fox for a moment as Roy got up and opened a drawer where he kept his first aid box. He approached the blonde and put some disinfectant to protect the injury with a cure band.

"Well, I think there's something we should talk about", the man said closing the box.

Ed sighed in resignation and approached the man taking a seat on the couch where he was laid down before, "About?"

Roy shot him a glare, so the kid smiled nervous and moved his hand telling him he was joking. "You have to tell me what the hell happened"

The boy lowered his head and averted his gaze, "I don't really know…I had never felt something like that before"

"It wasn't like…", Roy began, but didn't complete the phrase when the blonde shook his head.

"No. It's like I had lost control of the transmutation and…", he swallowed remembering how bad it had felt," It was like the transmutation was taking control over me".

The man stared at him with big surprised eyes, but then placed a hand on his jaw thoughtfully, "Have you ever tried to transmute something that big before?"

"…I was locked in the lab, what do you think?", he said with a bitter voice and narrowing his eyes.

"Just making sure", the man answered ignoring the kid, "So, I think we have a big problem"

Edward's eyes opened even bigger and scratched the back of his neck, "You…really think so?"

Roy nodded, but drew a smile, "Yes, this is serious, but I'm sure it's nothing we can't solve".

The kid stared at him for a moment, but then smiled and nodded. Yeah, he trusted him.

"For now, you have to take care of _that_", he warned the blonde pointing at the fox which was bumping some books from the book shelf.

Edward sweat dropped and grabbed the animal trying to immobilize his legs, "Take it easy, I'm not going to hurt you"

"You should choose a name for him by the way"

The kid placed a finger on his jaw thinking for a few seconds on a good name, "What about Fuch?"

Roy raised a brow, "…Fuch?...Does that mean something at least?"

Edward ignored the man and patted the fox's head, "Do you like it?". The animal moved his tail, so the kid took this as he was OK with the name.

Roy sighed and stood up walking towards the kitchen, "Let's dinner something, we must go sleep or tomorrow we won't be able to get up"

"Do you have something for Fuch?"

"…Right"

………….

The next day, Edward was in the Headquarter's gardens staring at the Fuch who was staring his back moving his tail. The kid narrowed his eyes and aimed a finger towards the fox.

"You're just playing the dumb, aren't you? You look at me as you understand every word I'm saying"

Fuch moved his head and yawned, so the blonde approached at him carefully holding a collar, but the fox raised his tail warningly and he stopped.

"Come on, if you're like that they could take you to the forest and you won't survive", the kid told him as he was begging him. He could swear the fox smirked mocking him. "Alright, it's going to be the hard way"

Edward jumped trying to grab the little animal, but he moved skillfully and evaded the blonde. Fuch began to run and Ed chased him, but of course the fox was too fast for him. However, he began to run even faster when he noticed Black Hayate saw Fuch and began to chase him too.

"No! Black Hayate! Stop!"

Roy smiled amused watching how Ed was running following the two animals through the gardens. That was by far better than signing the pile of paperwork he had on the desk waiting for him, even thought he knew Riza would be really mad if she found out…which she did.

"You've changed"

The Colonel almost fell of the chair, but did his best to remain serene and glanced at the woman who was looking at Edward through the window like he was a second ago. "I beg your pardon?"

"You've changed since the day you left to go to the laboratory"

Roy lifted a brow, but smiled and glanced at the kid again crossing his arms, "Maybe"

In that moment, the door burst open and Hughes entered the office with a big smile on his faces approaching the desk, "I got great news!"

Both Roy and Riza turned around to see the man expectantly, but they sweat dropped when Hughes placed some pictures of Elysia on the desk.

"She finally told me Daddy!",the man said with his voice filled in excitement, but he smiled nervously at the dangerous glance of Riza and took away the pictures, "Partypoopers…

The Colonel turned around and saw how Edward was trying to hold Fuch on his arms, but the little animal was reluctant to stay there. Nice pet they got there… Suddenly, he noticed that Maes at his side with a big smile watching Edward carefully.

"You have something in your mind, don't you?"

Roy didn't say anything but kept staring at the boy, but Riza glanced at Hughes slightly confused by the man comment. After a few seconds, the Colonel nodded.

"I'm thinking on taking Edward with me to the little cabin in the middle of the forest at the East where I stayed a few weeks after the Ishbal war…"

Hughes flinched not really expecting that kind and answer and looked back at Riza whose eyes appeared bigger suddenly. "And would you do that?"

"He can't learn how to control his alchemy just reading books and training near the city could be dangerous if something goes out of control…also I don't want anyone to know about him, it would be too risky", Roy said quietly as that was the thing to do in this situation, "I want him to be safe"

"I understand sir", Riza began glancing at Hughes and back to the Colonel, "But if something happens, we won't be able to communicate with you two, that would be dangerous"

Roy just grabbed his jaw thoughtfully staring at the blonde who apparently had achieved placing the collar in the fox's neck, but then turned around in his chair and stood up, "That's the only choice we have, I'm going to ask for a few weeks permission"

"Hold back just a second", Hughes hurried to say before Roy could think on running out of the office, "I agree with Riza, what will happen if something goes bad?"

The Colonel just grabbed some papers not really paying attention to Hughes and Riza's concerns, "I'll communicate with you every two days, if I don't, you have permission to go to look for us"

"Come on Roy, cut the crap"

Obsidian eyes meet Hughes' not too happy eyes, but he remained emotionless, "What's the big deal?"

"Even though I want to help Edward too, I just think is not right to take all the responsibility, let us help you with that", his friend told him with a hint of resentment on his voice, "You're getting away too involve with Ed and you even have decided what will happen next with you two"

"I'm not 'getting involved', I just want to help him. Don't be such a melodramatic"

Hughes just sighed and glanced at the boy who was being attacked by Fuch or something, "Just be careful"

Roy drew a smirk still staring at Ed and nodded, "I'm always careful"

……….

Edward picked up the cage with Fuch inside who was sleeping oblivious to the fact that they were on their way to a long travel. Roy smiled at him and grabbed the luggage and helped the boy to put his backpack on his back.

"I hope that place is as beautiful as you say or I'll be on a train back Central in a second", the kid warned half kidding, so Roy smirked.

"You know that's not the main reason where're heading there. I just hope the cabin is still abandoned and we'll have to use trees to transmute one"

"So", Edward said narrowing his eyes, "…are you going to cook? Do you know how to cook at least?"

Roy rolled his eyes and put some rebel locks of golden hair away from Ed's face, "Yes, I know how to cook, I promise"

"I wouldn't eat anything Roy cooked anyway"

The Colonel glared at Hughes who had a big smile on his face mocking his best friend. Edward mumbled something about being prepared for that since he brought a food recipe book.

"Take care of Roy, Edward-Kun, alright?". The kid laughed and nodded happily watching how Roy stared at his friend slightly hurt by his words, "And try to find a way to be in touch"

"I'll try", Roy said, not really meaning it, so Hughes just sighed, "Hawkeye, please make sure the crew don't hang around while I'm gone, they have work to do"

Riza smiled and nodded, "Of course, sir"

Roy smiled at her back, "Take care, see you in a few weeks"

"The train is about to leave, you two should go now"

Both waved their hands and hurried inside the train looking for an empty seat, which they did quickly. Roy placed the luggage above them while Edward put Fuch's cage carefully in the seat trying not to wake the animal.

"I don't understand why Fuch needs to be in the cage", he said glaring at Roy.

"You haven't trained him yet, consider yourself lucky that I manage to convince them to let you have him here"

Ed growled, so Roy just relaxed on the seat since it was 6 in the morning and he was feeling rather sleeping; the night before, Fuch had messed up with the washing machine and all the room was flooded with dissolved detergent. Of course both had sleep like 3 hours.

"I'm going to take a nap", Edward said suddenly laying down in the seat, "Wake me up when breakfast is ready"

Roy chuckled, but the blonde didn't notice as he was falling sleep quite fast. The man leaned on the window and closed his eyes feeling how the drowsiness was taking over him and the landscabe became blurred and blurred…

Some hours later, Roy woke up with a start since he didn't notice when he had fallen sleep and got up scared when he didn't see Edward on his seat. He looked around and sighed when he saw the blonde walking towards their seat with a cupcake on his hand.

"Don't do that again"

The kid glanced at the man confused and sat down, "I just went to the next car", Ed said before he took a bite of the bread, "And I grabbed some money from your wallet"

"…Little thief"

Ed grinned and focused on eating the snack happily, he was indeed starving. He had brought a piece of fried chicken for Fuch and handed Roy another cupcake. Roy grabbed it and nodded thanking the kid who was already eating his bread.

"How long did I sleep?", Roy asked himself glancing at the window to check on the sun. It should be like 10 on the morning at least.

He heard how Ed was talking to Fuch giving him the fried chicken which the fox accepted hungrily. Yeah, maybe both had slept more that he expected.

"Mustang-San, where are we going?"

The dark-haired man flinched at the sudden question and looked down at the boy who was caressing the fox, "I told you already, to a cabin in the middle of the forest at the East"

Edward stared at him for moment before moving his eyes towards the window, "Why?"

Roy raised a brow and swallowed the piece of bread he had on his mouth, "I thought it was obvious", he said moving closer the boy as he didn't want anyone else to hear their conversation, "You cannot use your alchemy on the city, it would be dangerous"

The kid narrowed his eyes, but not accusatorily. It was like he was analyzing the possible scenario, "But…your job…your life"

The Colonel's eyes grew bigger surprised by the boy's comment, but he smiled, "Don't worry about that. They already owed me some vacations anyway"

Edward smiled happily and glanced at the fox who was eating his food, "You just wanted to get out of that office"

"…It's that obvious?"

The blonde grinned and yawned, but grabbed his backpack and took out a bunch of cards placing them on the table, "Let's play poker"

"Nah, you're a cheater"

"…Cheater?", Ed repeated almost hurt, but he smirked amused, "You're just mad because you suck at it"

Roy flinched uncrossing his arms and frowned, "Let's play you damn midget"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO STEP ON HIM?!"

The man smirked amused when the kid noticed how loud he had screamed and had blushed in embarrassment, but he just waited until he decided to deal the cards.

Edward snorted giving the man 5 of the cards, "Bastard"

"Just play"

An hour ago, Roy's head was in the table with his hands on his hair while the blonde laughed. He had lost _all_ the games, and there was no explanation for such thing to happen. The damn brat must be cheating, he was sure of that.

"I'm bored, you suck at this"

The man looked up at the smirking boy with his eyes narrowed, "Whatever"

In that moment, a little girl approached the table and stared at Edward for a moment while both turned at her confused.

"Can we help you, sweetheart?", Roy asked her, but the girl was staring at the boy so intensely that the kid blushed.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Edward almost fell of the seat while Roy did his best effort to hold back a laugh, but the girl stood there waiting for an answer which the man assumed the boy wouldn't give her.

"No, he doesn't have a girlfriend, darling. Do you like him?"

The blonde's jaw dropped and gave him a disbelieving look, but the girl nodded and he blushed furiously unable to put together an answer for that.

"My big sister told me that she likes you, by the way", she added pointing at a beautiful woman who was looking at Roy with a soft smile.

"I see…I'll be back. You can stay with him", the man said standing up at the time the girl took his seat and squealed at the blushed face of the boy.

"Can you tell me your name?"

Ed could feel how his body temperature was going up and up at the point that he was sure his face was totally crimson in that moment, "…E-Edward"

"So cute!", she said excited placing his elbows on the table and holding his face with his hands cutely, "I can't understand how is that you don't have a girlfriend. You're so handsome!"

The boy was so nervous about the all situation that if he could faint, he would be so happy. That damn bastard had left him alone… "…I…I"

"My name is Madison"

"…N-nice to meet you"

Roy then came back to the seat and patted the girl's head, "You should be back with your site, you're about to reach your destination"

Madison did a disappointed sound and nodded jumping from the seat, "I hope I see you again, Edward"

Ed just waved his hand nervously at her and sighed in relief when the train began to stop. He didn't know exactly why, but he had felt so scared.

"You're such a chicken"

"….Leave me alone, I'm 10 years old!"

"So?"

"So I'm not interested in girls for now", he growled crossing his arms, "Why did you come back so soon anyway?". Roy averted his gaze immediately and mumbled something the kid didn't understand, "Did she dump you that fast?"

"…Of course not", he said raising and brow, "…I…I had already dated her once and I didn't remember…"

Edward rolled his eyes and glanced at Fuch who was already staring at the kid, "Just hold on a bit more, we'll arrive soon"

Well, not that soon. Three hours later, they were finally walking through the forest heading towards Roy was sure the cabin was.

"I'm sure we're lost", Ed said trying to annoy the man and achieving at it.

"Oh shut up"

Edward stopped suddenly and Roy approached him curious, but he saw quickly what had amazed the blonde; in front of them, there was a waterfall and a small lake surrounded by rocks and plants, a beautiful view, and a view he already knew.

"Look, the cabin is over there. I knew it"

Ed chuckled, but raised both brows when he saw what would be their house for a few weeks…and old and cracked cabin. "Are you that is? It looks quite dangerous"

Roy didn't answer, but the boy noticed he was drawing something. He understood then what he was doing when he placed the piece of paper on the cabin and activated the transmutation circle leaving the place as new as it could be.

"I could have done it, you know?", the boy said following Roy inside the cabin.

"You shouldn't use your alchemy yet, please remember that"

"….Al right"

The kid finally took Fuch out of the cage and the little animal explored the place, he was sure he wouldn't go away, not when he knew he could get food and being taken care of.

"We'll unpack later, for now, let's go outside to begin with the training"

Ed nodded and both walked outside followed by Fuch, who just sat down near them as he was watching what they were doing.

"You have to put in practice all what you have read", the man said stopping in front of a huge rock, "Try to transmute something as slow as you can but it has to be big, really big"

The blonde analyzed the rock for a few seconds before he approached it, "Alright, here I come"

"Slowly, Edward, _slowly_", the man repeated warningly. He really hoped Edward could do it as he said.

And he began. Ed clapped his hands and the transmutation began, Roy watching carefully his face next to him; any hint of pain, and he would have to stop Edward by the force if he needed to.

And it happened. The kid's face twisted in pain for a second when a huge rock horse was being transmutated, so Roy grabbed the boy's arm and stopped him abruptly.

"Are you alright?", the man asked him kneeling in front of him. Edward was sweating and panting with big wide eyes as he was scared, "Edward, are you alright?"

"…I…I felt that again", he said with a dull voice, but decided to explain himself when he noticed Roy was staring at him expectantly, "That feeling…of something taking over me…trying to control me"

The Colonel opened his mouth to say something, but immediately closed it again, "Take it easy, we must research about that then. We will find out what's happening to you, OK?"

Edward merely nodded, so the man stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder leading him into the cabin. Roy was expecting Ed would be able to practice more, but they would have to go slower that he though. Fuch followed them inside the cabin moving his tail graciously and Roy closed the door behind him.

………….

Exam's week is finally over, so here's a update after that long XD I'm so sorry that now I'm going even slower…


	11. It's all about trust

Super long chapter since I made you wait like forever, didn't I? XD Sorry, school is being pretty hard and I began to edit my new AMV featuring Edward and Roy and After Effects is a pain in the ass XD. So, enough blablabla, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

"**It's all about trust"**

Roy knocked at the door and yawned as he waited for someone to open it. Of course he knew he didn't have to wait too long when the door opened and Gracia appeared with a sweet smile on her face. 

"Roy, welcome back", she said stepping aside to let the man enter the house. 

The man smiled as he closed the door behind him. "Yeah, It's nice to be back to the civilization"

Both got into the living room where Hughes where playing with Elysia making funny noises as the girl laughed happily, but Roy just shook his head. 

"Hey there! About time you were back already", Hughes said laying down the girl in the couch and approaching Roy to greet him. 

"Come on, it were just 5 weeks"

"But you missed Elysia's first draw!", he complained funnily hearing how her daughter laughed at his voice.

Roy rolled his eyes and sat down in the couch patting Elysia's head who was now yawning tiredly, so Gracia picked her up, "I'll be upstairs, It was nice to see you again, Roy"

The man nodded and Gracia left the living room as Hughes sat down in the couch quite disappointed that her daughter decided to go to sleep already since he was having so much fun with her. 

"So", Maes began, "Where's Edward?"

"I left him sleeping in the house, I asked a neighbor to keep an eye on it. He was pretty tired from the trip and I didn't want to disturb him"

Hughes' smile grew considerably, but he didn't say anything about it, "How did it go?"

Yeah, the question Roy was waiting for, "Well, I would say 'good'", he answered leaning on the back of the couch as Maes stared at him inquiringly, "He now is able to perform alchemy without risk as long as he don't try something huge like a building or something"

"Do you know now what's wrong with him then?"

Roy shook his head quite ashamed, "I wasn't able to figure out why he loses control of his alchemy, but at least I trained him so he could used it without worries…at normal stuff at least"

Hughes taped his fingers on the couch studying his friend's expression. He was seemed so disappointed, "You're blaming yourself that you couldn't do more for him, aren't you?"

The man smiled and closed his eyes, "You know I am"

"But you shouldn't"

Roy snorted impatiently, "I came here to ask you something actually", he said trying to change the subject, so Hughes sighed, "Do you know where the scientist that were in the lab are right now?" 

The Lieutenant Coronel blinked a few times before he could process what Roy had asked him, "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? They must know more about Edward…or I least I hope"

"And you think they will talk to you just like that?", Hughes asked him slightly smiling, but he knew the answer already.

"I have my methods"

Sigh. That was all Hughes could say to the matter. He knew Roy very well and the look on his eyes told him to stop whatever he was going to tell him. "Then let me go with you"

Roy raised a brow and stared at his friend for a second, "Why?"

"To stop you when I think is enough. I'm sure you're going to do _whatever it takes_ to get information from them"

The Colonel smiled quite naughtily. Yeah, of course he would if he had to, but he was hoping the situation wouldn't get that far. "Alright, tomorrow we'll go"

Hughes nodded more resigned than anything else. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, he was sure of that.

When Roy got home, he heard the TV on in the living room, so he walked towards it just to see a sleeping blonde in the couch with Fuch on the floor moving his tail. The man approached Ed and sat down in the couch trying to not wake up the boy, he probably was tired from the trip on the train. 

He examined the kid for a moment and noticed a few scratches on his arms, most of them because Edward wanted to play the explorer card in the woods. Kids.

Roy went upstairs to get ready to go to bed, but when he was buttoning his shirt pijamas, he saw how Edward was at the frame of the door rubbing his eyes almost falling sleep on his feet. 

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?". Ed just shrugged and yawned tiredly, so the man smiled kindly, "You should go to your room"

"Are we going to the Headquarters tomorrow?", he said quite dozed holding back a yawn.

The man shook his head walking towards him, "No, tomorrow is Sunday. I have something to do and I'll take you to Pinako's while I'm out"

"…Pinako's?", the blonde repeated confused.

"She's the grandmother of Winry and Alphonse, remember them?"

Edward raised a brow unconvinced by the idea of hanging with two…well…kids, "I guess…why do I have to stay with them?"

"Because", Roy began placing a hand on the kid's head, "You can't come with me and I won't leave you alone for such long time"

The boy just did a 'mh' sound but nodded since he wasn't in the mood to begin an argument, so Roy patted his head.

"Good night"

Ed yawned and raised a hand while he was walking, "Good night"

The man watched the boy left the room and smiled feeling kind of bad for him. Of course he wouldn't want to stay with people he didn't know when he was a kid, and he was quite sure Edward didn't like to interact with kids of his age.

…………..

"Mustang-San, I don't want t stay with them…I don't know them that well!"

Roy rolled his eyes for the fifth time that morning. They had had that conversation three times just in the few hours they had awake, and the blonde didn't want to drop it, he just keep going as he was sure Mustang would give up and bring the boy along.

"As I already told you, you can't come with me this time and it will be just a few hours", he told him as he glanced at the mirror to check if everything was OK, but he just saw Edward with folded arms and a cocked brow. 

"Where that place would be? I'm 10 years old! I can go anywhere!", the blonde complained approaching the man who handed him his crimson jacket, "Please"

"No, Ed. Period. I promise you we'll go whatever you want once I'm finished"

Edward snorted and left the room as his way to throw a tantrum, but Roy found it funnier than anything else, so he followed him and both got out of the house saying goodbye to Fuch who was sleeping in the couch oblivious to the fact that he was being left alone. 

As both walked in silence, Roy glanced at the kid out of the corner of his eyes and noticed that he still had his arms crossed and was frowned. He better please the boy in the afternoon or he would be mad forever…

Soon, they stopped in front of Pinako's house and the old woman was already at the porch with her pipe and her dog at her side. She smiled – or smirked would be more accurate – when she saw how cranky Edward was. 

"I guess your nephew doesn't like the idea of hanging out with some strangers"

Roy smiled and patted the blonde's head which only made the kid growl, "Not really, but I have to thank you. I know he will be OK here"

"Indeed he will", the woman said opening the fence, "I'm sure he will be fine once he get to know Winry and Alphonse"

The man nodded and kneeled in front of the blonde trying not to feel bad since Edward had changed his face into a nervous once, but he was sure he was trying to manipulate him, "Be a good boy, I'll be back at noon I hope, alright?"

"But-"

"See you"

Said that, Roy stood up and pushed Edward gently so Pinako could close the fence. He waved his hand and turned around quickly so he wouldn't see the victim expression the kid had, damn the kid. 

"Winry and Alphonse are still sleeping, but Den will keep you company", Pinako told him walking towards the house as Den approached Edward. 

The kid just sighed in resignation and saw how the dog was staring at him moving his tail happily, obviously expecting him to play, "…Alright"

……….

Roy sat down in the chair in front of the small table and tapped his fingers impatient. He definitely didn't like the interrogatory room at all, but since the doctors were still waiting to be prosecuted, he had to interrogate them there. 

He waited a few minutes looking around and glanced at the dark window in front of him where Hughes would be to watch him and intervene "if necessary" as he said. He had no idea why his friend thought he should be worried about that, but he didn't say anything about it. 

Finally, the door opened and Roy saw a handcuffed Dr. Marcoh entering the small room almost pushed by an officer who forced him to sit down and stood in the corner of the place folding his arms. The Colonel stared at the man for a moment before saying anything, but he turned his hands into fists when Marcoh smiled as he was mocking him. 

"I'll give you some credit. I thought you would come a few days after you decided to kept that brat but apparently you decided to try on your way first", the scientist said quite amused, but Roy didn't show any emotion.

"You know why I'm here so talk already"

Marcoh tried not to laugh , "Why I should know? It could be anything. Just ask you question"

Roy taped his fingers and shot him a glare "What did you do with Edward?"

"Ohh, Edward. I think they never told him his real name", Dr. Marcoh smirked again, "But anywhay, I think you should know that we didn't do anything to him"

The Coronel grabbed his jaw quite impatient and stared at the man with frowned brows, "I'm not in a good mood, Dr. Marcoh"

"I'm telling you the truth. Actually, you probably did the worst mistake you could have made"

"Yeah? And why would that be?", Roy asked trying to draw a smirk, but he was getting mad.

Marcoh moved on his chair uncomfortably, but still enjoying the situation. "We didn't do anything to that boy, in fact, he was able to survive because he was in that lab and we manage to control him"

"Stop babbling already and tell me what I want to know"

The scientist smiled and sighed, "I don't know why should I tell you anything, thanks to you I'll spend the rest of my life in jail"

It was Roy's turn to smirk, "I think they are talking about death penalty", he said and smirked wider when he noticed how Marcoh's face darkened, "You don't mind?"

The man clenched his fists and frowned, but his smile didn't erase, "It's almost the same, don't you think?"

"Are you sure, Dr. Marcoh? You're face doesn't tell me that", Roy said quite sure he had hit the right spot, "I can do that for you if you tell me everything you know about Edward. Fair enough, right?"

Marcoh glanced at the dark glass for a moment as he was analyzing the deal, but Roy was sure he was going to take it since Edward wasn't longer important to him. 

"That boy", the doctor began, "All the information about his past in the record is false, he didn't get in the lab when he was 3 years old. An old friend of mine found him when his town got attacked by some men and he saw his mother dying during it. He was like 5 years old I think"

Roy raised a brow…Edward never mentioned something like that, he just had nightmares of when he tried to transmute her mother…

"It was the Alchemists Union who destroyed the town of course and my friend took the boy when he saw how they killed his mother", Marcoh glanced at Roy who was hearing him attentively, "But the boy managed to slip out of him and ran towards his mother. My friend told me that the kid quickly drew a simple transmutation circle and tried to get close to his mother, but when he was about to touch her, my friend moved him"

The Colonel half closed his eyes staring at the man, "He didn't transmute his mother?"

"No at that time, but he activated the transmutation", Marcoh continued quite serious, "My friend told me that he saw how the transmutation went out of control and the kid began to scream out of pain, so he grabbed him by the force interrupting it and the boy immediately fainted. That was when he brought him to us in the lab. The kid had lost a big part of his memory due to the transmutation"

"Please don't say that you wanted to help him", Mustang said smirking, "I won't believe you"

"I won't tell you that", the doctor confirmed with a smile on his face, "Basque Grand was there when he brought the boy and heard everything. I was going to tell my friend that I couldn't do anything for him, but Basque Grand ordered us to begin a research on the boy immediately"

"Then I was totally right, the Military wants that boy"

"You have a good intuition, Mustang, I always knew that", Marcoh remarked somewhat bitterly, "So I have to say that I'm surprised that you agreed to keep the boy since you know that's part of their plan"

Roy just smiled and laid in the back of the chair as he tapped his fingers, "Did you discover something in all these years about the alchemy of Edward?"

Marcoh shook his head, "Not quite. We just managed to control it and I kind of hope you did too since he is a danger to the people around him"

"You don't have to worry about that", the Colonel assured still tapping his fingers, "Are you telling me that after all these years you didn't find the reason of the power of the boy?"

"We had orders to perform another researches, as you saw while you were at the lab", Marcoh snorted and smirked, "Just for the record, we didn't have bad intentions with him"

"Of course", Roy moved his head so the officer forced Marcoh to stand up, "I'll do whatever I can to lower your penalty"

Said that, the officer pulled Marcoh outside the room and Roy approached the dark glass aware that Hughes was staring at him, "So I think Edward's alchemy doesn't have a scientist explanation"

A few seconds later, he heard Maes voice through the loudspeaker, "What are you going to do?"

"…I've no idea"

………………

Edward blinked again and saw how Winry handed him an orange juice while Al was looking for something in the fridge. They were weird, barely know him and both had welcomed him as a old friend.

"Where did Mustang-San go?", Winry asked him suddenly making him flinch and stare at her for a second. 

"He didn't tell me…something about his job I think"

"He should quit that job already", the girl added with a hint of concern on his voice, "I heard on the news that there's some riots not too far from here and he probably will have to go"

Edward saw how the girl's face became sad and Alphonse placed a hand on her shoulder as he was telling her that everything would be OK….This kids really liked Roy so it seems. 

"He hasn't told me anything about that, I don't think you should worry yet", the blond said quite shyly, even more when Winry smiled excited. 

"I'm glad"

Alphonse sat down next to Edward who was drinking his juice while Winry ran towards the kitchen were Pinako was doing the breakfast. 

"Try not to feel intimidated by Winry", the boy told Ed suddenly, "She's a good girl, just a little…scary sometimes"

Edward smiled and nodded, but then noticed that his shirt sleeve wasn't in his place showing a little of the automail arm and moved it quickly catching Alphonse attention. 

"Something's wrong?"

"…No, my arm itched, that's all"

Alphonse smiled, but before he could say anything, Winry approached and sat down in front of Edward and laid down a plate with toast, "Let's eat, Grandma wants to go downtown to buy some stuff and she wants us to go with her"

"But she went the day before yesterday, didn't she?", Alphonse said almost complaining.

"Yes, but some clients came yesterday and we're going to need more supplies than we thought", the girl explained excited although Edward couldn't understand why she was so happy about that.

He would really like to stay in the house, but Pinako didn't let him and now he was walking at Alphonse's side with Den at his other side moving his tail. It seemed that this was something they usually do and he felt like an intruder for some reason. 

"What do they want to buy?", Ed decided to ask finally catching Alphonse attention.

"Automail supplies", he answered with a smile, "Winry's paradise"

"….Paradise?", Edward tried not to show any emotion at the word 'automail' and he was sure he had succeeded.

"She loves everything that has to do with Automails", Alphonse explained with a smile, "Some boys says she is such a freak for that"

"…I see". Edward agreed on that. 

"Edward-Kun, can I ask you why are you staying with Mustang-San?"

The blond certainly wasn't expecting that question…but the worst thing was that he didn't know how to answered it, "I-I…It's kind of a vacation thing actually"

"I see", Alphonse said smiling, "But for vacations I would have chosen the beach not Central"

Edward smiled him back and shrugged. "Maybe"

"Since you're Mustang-San nephew, I'm right to assume you're a great alchemist?"

The blond smiled shyly, "Alchemist, yes. Great…not sure. What about you?"

"He lend me some of his books, that's how I learned to use Alchemy", the kid say slightly ashamed, "So of course I'm not an expert"

"Neither I am", Edward said a little more confident. This was the first time he had really interacted with another kid…and it wasn't that bad, "But Mustang-San is training me"

"Yeah? That's must be exciting!"

"Actually it is. He's pretty tough, but his alchemy is very well-trained"

"Hey! You two! Hurry up!"

Both saw Winry waving her hand standing in front of a store very ahead from where they were. The boys hurried up their steps and went inside following the girl who just approached Pinako squealing about a new product they had in there. Edward glanced around and noticed it was the automail store and that gave him Goosebumps, but tried to remain smiling since Al was at his side. 

"Aren't you interested in automail?", the kid tried to focus his attention on something else than the screws and metal pieces he had in front of him.

"Not really", Alphonse said sincerely, "Don't get me wrong, of course it's amazing that they can gave someone a limb, but mechanic stuff…not my thing at all"

Edward almost chuckled, but just drew a smile and watched how Winry was all giggling. What a curious girl...he better never mention that he had an automail.

Almost an hour later, they were walking back to Pinako's house, who smiled at the fact of how chatty Edward, Al and Winry were. Roy had told her that he wouldn't probably feel comfortable around the kids, but he had been really wrong and she was happy for that. 

However, when she glanced at the kids through a store window display, she noticed how a man was following the kids staring at Edward fixedly, so she hurried them. 

"Let's eat something in that cafeteria", the old woman said pushing them.

"Alright, Grandma, you don't have to push us", Winry complained.

When they were on the table, Ed and Alphonse were talking cheerfully while Winry analyzed the menu deciding what she wanted to eat. Pinako, in the other hand, watched how the man got into the cafeteria too and took a seat near them. She had to call Roy, but how would she do it without leaving the kids alone? Fortunately, a waitress she knew was on her shift, so Pinako called for her with her hand. 

"Pinako-San! I long time without seen you", the woman said smiling, "Can I take your order?"

"Hi sweetheart, I need you to do me a favor, could you?"

The waitress seemed surprised, but nodded when she noticed the seriousness in Pinako's face. The kids, oblivious to the situation were arguing about the best dessert they had ever tried, so the old woman relaxed or tried to; if the man tried something, she wasn't sure what they could do to protect Edward.

Fifteen minutes later, they were eating their meals…sort of. Ed and Alphonse were discussing something about Alchemy and WInry just heard them attentive since she didn't know anything about the subject, but it sounded amazing. Pinako glanced at the man every now and then and he was still there drinking coffee...maybe she had overreacted. 

However, Roy finally arrived ruffling Ed's hair who growled and tried to fix it. "Hi kids, is the food good?"

"Yeah, it's actually pretty good", Alphonse answered before he took a bit of it.

Mustang smiled and turned at Pinako who moved her eyes indicating who the suspicious man was. The Colonel stared at him for a few seconds, but then he glanced at Edward as anything was happening. 

"Are you free for the rest of the afternoon?", Edward asked him suddenly which made him flinch.

"Yes, we can go wherever you want"

The blonde smiled happily, "I want to go to the book store!"

"…the book store? Come on, you're a kid. Shouldn't you want to go to the Central Park or something?"

"Alphonse-Kun told me there are brand new books, I want to take an eye on them", he said moving his fork, "I really need new books"

"Alright, alright. We'll go after here", the man gave up glancing at the man again.

However, this wasn't going to be that easy, "Can we go too!", Alphonse and Winry asked together taking the man by surprise.

Pinako shook his head, "He must have other plans, kids. You can't ask him that so suddenly"

"But grandma!", both complained disappointed, but Roy nodded happily. 

"You can come if Edward is ok with that"

The blond was surprised that Roy had asked for his opinion, but he nodded too so both kids smiled excited. He would have to open his eyes like never before.

And so he did, always trying to be a inch far from the kid although Edward was busier showing books to Alphonse. He glanced around and noticed the man not so far from them, so he approached the kids and placed a hand on Ed's shoulder.

"Can we buy these books?", the blond asked him suddenly.

"Grab as many as you want"

Edward smiled excited and began to discuss which books would be better to buy while Winry just watch them clearly not understanding what the big deal was about alchemy. Roy sat down next to the boy glancing at the man every now and then.

"We're done", Ed announced carrying like 7 books on his arms, "I think these will be enough for one week since they look difficult"

Roy sweat dropped, but nodded so Edward ran towards the cash desk and the girl on it smiled kindly grabbing the books. 

"…These books are pretty hard to understand, you know?", the woman said surprised when she saw the titles, "You probably aren't going to understand a thing"

The blond stared at her quite grumpy, but Alphonse shook his head telling him that he shouldn't tell her anything, "They're for my dad"

"Oh, I see!", she said a little more relaxed.

Roy approached them to pay for the books, but he took the chance to flirt with the woman a little while Alphonse laughed covering his hand and Edward rolled his eyes and Winry shook her head sighing.

……………

That night, Edward was reading one of the books almost sweating, the damn was so hard! But he will do his best effort to understand them. Fuch was in the table moving his tail as he was watching Ed studying…or maybe he just was waiting for him to give him food. 

In that moment, the phone rang and the kid glanced at the device for a second. Roy was taking a shower so he wouldn't probably hear it, so the blond stood up and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"I'm glad you answered", a deep voice said, it has to be a man, "I need to see you in the telephone booth at the corner of the street"

"…Who the hell is this?"

"Don't ask questions. If you don't come, I could get a little mad and take it with your little neighbors you hung out today with, the same if you say something to Mustang". The blonde's eyes widened and remained silently for a moment, which mad the man laugh, "I'll wait just 5 minutes"

After that, the man hung up leaving a shocked Edward with the phone still on his ear staring at the wall with a blank stare. He left the device on his space and took a pick at the upper roof where he heard the water still on in the bath and then glanced at Fuch who was staring at him.

The boy frowned, grabbed his jacket and ran out of the house as fast as he could through the street feeling that he was making a mistake, but he didn't have a choice. Soon, he saw a man near the phone booth with a hat and a raincoat with his hands on his pocket staring at the blond, who stopped a few feet away from him. 

"You came", the man said smirking, "Good, very good"

"What the hell you want?", Edward asked trying to hurry the meeting since he was sure Roy would notice he was gone soon.

"Let me introduce first", he said almost mocking him, "My name is Leijon", the man began. He had a deep voice that made the boy shiver, "I've heard that you're a powerful alchemist"

Edward blinked a few times before answering, but then he turned around, "I think you're confusing me with other person"

"Of course I'm not"

The blond stopped with wide eyes and turned around again to see the man onto his eyes; yes, for some reason, this man knew…

"So?", Edward asked trying to apparent a calmness he wasn't really feeling.

"So, I'm quite interested in you. I saw how powerful you are that day in the fair where you tried to transmute the Ferris Wheel"

Ed tried to remain emotionless, but cocked a brow, "So?"

Leijon smirked slightly amused by the boy's attitude, "So, I kind of need you"

"Good for you…or this case, bad, because I'm not helping you"

"Oh of course you're going to", the man said, his voice more threatening each time he spoke, "Or I will make you regret that you didn't"

The boy clenched his fists and his teeth, but he couldn't let this man hurt anybody because of him, "What do you want me to do?"

"Come with me"

No, he couldn't, "Mustang-San will notice I'm not in the house very soon. I can't"

Leijon frowned, this time clearly irritated, and tried to approached Ed, who had transmuted his automail into a blade and threatened him placing it right on his chest.

"Don't even think about it", the kid said, half confident half nervous.

"Such reflexes, I'm impressed", he said amused, "But not quite"

The man did a quick move and slapped the automail, but before he could grab Edward's neck the kid backed up and kicked him in the stomach. The boy tried to run, but Leijon recovered fast and grabbed his arm slamming him against a wall painfully with his automail immobilized"

"Don't try that again you stupid kid, as I told you, you won't suffer the consequences but your little friends will"

Edward narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, so the man let him free and began to walk pretty sure the blond would follow him. And he wasn't wrong; Ed began to walk behind him his head down but clearly scared since his fists were shaking. It didn't take long before they got into a dark house where everything upside down as nobody lived there, but there was food, so…

Leijon guided the kid through a basement until they reached a door and he opened it revealing a gloomy laboratory with book everywhere and some substances in the table. However, that wasn't what caught Edward's attention, but what was in the middle of the room.

Some stuff gathered together in the middle of a transmutation circle…a transmutation circle he knew very well. 

"W-wha-what ar-", he stammered with wide eyes.

"It's pretty simple", the man said with a malicious but hopeful smirk, "I want you to bring back my lovely wife, Charlotte"

"…Bring back?", Ed said trying to pretend he didn't know what he was talking about, but feeling a hole in his stomach.

"He died last year due to a sickness the doctors couldn't treat", Leijon said clenching his fists, "She didn't deserve to day; she was a sweet woman. I want you to bring her back from death"

Edward then lost it. He shook his head freaked out and turned around to try to get of the place, but Leijon had closed the door. The blond quickly clapped his hands, but the man grabbed his arms and slammed him against the door. 

"I'm not asking you, you better do it before I lose my patience" 

"I'm not doing it!", Ed hissed trying to slip away, "Leave me alone!"

Leijon slammed him again hard against the door making the boy groan in pain and stop the struggling, "I'm sure you know how to do it, bring her back!"

"NO! Let me go!"

"BRING HER BACK!"

"I CAN'T!"

The man stopped shaking the blond and stared at him with wide eyes for a moment analyzing what he had said, "What do you mean with 'you can't?"

Ed looked at the man back with narrowed eyes, "I can't bring her back"

"Why do you say that! Of course you can! Such powerful alchemist must be able to do what others can't!"

"I CAN'T BRING HER BACK!"

Leijon stared at him with shocked eyes, almost squeezing Ed's wrists at the point that the left began to hurt a lot, but the kid did not move. 

"I can't bring her back", the kid said a little more calmed, "Why do you think I have an automail arm?", he asked him bitterly. The man backed up with wide eyes leaving the kid free but staring at the automail hand. "I can't transmute something that doesn't exist anymore"

"SHUT UP! OF COURSE SHE EXISTS!"

"SHE DON'T!"

Leijon clenched his fists, but pulled the kid until he was in front of the transmutation circle and aimed a gun at his head, "Bring-her-back. I won't say it again"

This was when Edward began to shake in fear. The man was crazy, even thought he had told him that he had lost a limb for trying human transmutation he didn't care and now he had a gun on his head. 

"The only thing that will happen if I active the transmutation is that both of us could lose parts of our body or our lives!", the kid said trying to remain calm and not panic…at least not yet.

"Well, in any case it will be _you_ who lose your body, but she will be alive so I don't care"

Ed breathed agitated as he tried to analyze the situation and escape, but he would have to be quick…very quick. "…I'll try"

Leijon smiled, but didn't lower the gun as Edward felt the cannon on the back of his head. He slowly clapped his hands but then stopped staring at the transmutation circle, which made the man press the cannon harder against his blonde head. 

It was now or never. Edward moved to kick him in a foot sweep so the man fell on the ground and touched the gun to transmute it into a steel bar. He felt his heart beating as fast as ever, but he hurried to the door, clapped his hands and transmuted it.

He began to run but he heard that Leijon was just behind him and of course he was faster than him since he had shorter legs - shorter! – but he didn't look back. Ed hurried through the stairs feeling the man closer at every step, so he clapped his hands and touched the floor to transmute a small wall to stop him, but when he glanced back he saw how Leijon easily dodged the wall.

Maybe he should fight him back now that the man didn't have the gun, but he didn't have a chance to decide since when he turned a corner he bumped into someone and almost fell in the floor if that person hadn't grabbed him. He felt how whoever had stopped him pulled the blond behind, and it was when he saw the gloved. It was Roy. 

"Stop right there you son of a bitch", the Colonel hissed drawing Edward closer to him, "Or be sure that I'll burn your ass off"

Leijon stopped shocked, of course he knew who Roy was and how powerful he could be, and he was mad, pretty mad. 

"You're under arrest you bastard"

………..

Edward was in the living room of Roy's house moving his fingers nervously with Fuch at his side laid down. Mustang was outside with some officers who would take Leijon under arrest while he waited inside the house…waited to be scolded he was sure. 

Finally, he heard a door opening and closing quietly. Well, at least he didn't slam it…it could be a good sign, couldn't it? When Roy appeared in the living room, the kid straightened up and stared at the man, he didn't seem that mad, but he was mad. 

"Why did you go out of the house?", the Colonel simply asked glancing at the nervous boy who flinched at the question. 

"I-I….He-He….", Ed stammered not quite sure what he should say, "…I'm sorry"

Roy crossed his arms and sighed, he knew what had happened since he interrogated the man, but what he didn't understand was why Edward couldn't just trust him when something like this happened. It would be like this forever?

The man approached Edward who became even more nervous, but Roy just kneeled down and placed both hands on the kid's shoulders, "Are you alright?". Edward blinked a few times surprised by the question, but he merely nodded and gulped. "It's alright, Ed. But you have to understand that you can solve things like this on your own".

Edward lowered his head and averted his gaze quite ashamed…but he had done it for a good reason, hadn't he?

"Why don't you trust me?"

That question took the boy out of guard. Of course he trusted the man! "Why do you say that? You know I trust you"

Roy smiled kind of relieved by the answer and nodded, "Then you have to understand that a lot of people will be interested in your alchemy, but I'm here to protect you from them, alright?"

If Ed wasn't that embarrassed in that moment, he would have sighed in relief, but he merely smiled. "How did you find me?"

"Well, when I noticed you were gone – and voluntary since you jacket wasn't here too", Roy began as he boy blushed in embarrassment, "I went out looking for you scaring the little people that was outside since it was too late asking if they had seen you and fortunately someone saw you getting into the psycho's house"

"I see…", yeah, that was all Edward could say to the matter. If he could be more ashamed he would be. 

"Are you sure you're Ok? That man was crazy"

Actually, he had almost forgotten about the incident per se…he had been a little more scared of disappointing Roy. "Yeah, I'm ok I guess"

"Then you better sleep. Your punishment for going out without permission begins tomorrow"

Edward sweat dropped and narrowed his eyes, but Roy stood up and ruffled his hair as he headed towards the kitchen to make a quick dinner.

……………


	12. Are you ready?

No excuses this time but a huge apology. It has been impossible to write ; But hey, I'm here now! I was out of the city for a few days and I had time sit down and get inspired, but I didn't have internet until now. So, a new chapter (not as long as I would have hoped), a new fanfic (I was serious about the inspired thing XD, please check it out!) and this fanfic translated to Spanish.

Hope you like it!

**MithLuin**, if you're reading this, I'd love to have a beta! Please let me know how I can contact you

"**Are you ready?"**

Edward looked around slightly confused. He was sure he was in Central city, but something was really off since he couldn't recognize any the buildings around him. Maybe he was lost? Oddly, he couldn't even remember how he ended there…

He walked down a few blocks still unable to get where the hell he was, maybe the city really looked different at night as Roy once told him. But again, why was he there? Why was he alone? And that's when the boy noticed; nobody else was in that place, it was like a phantom city and that gave him the creeps.

The blonde kept walking glancing around not quite sure where he was supposed to be heading to; he had to find Roy's house and fast. But after an hour, he was more and more lost. He suddenly saw a park, but it wasn't the one he knew; still, he decided to take a peek.

Ed reached the lake in the middle of the place just hearing the wind hitting the trees and his feet stepping on the grass. How could it be so awfully quiet? The kid stared at the lake for a moment trying to analyze the situation, trying to understand what the hell was happening.

And it was when he heard something and turned around. His golden eyes searched the source of the sound but there wasn't anyone in that place besides him. He put his hands inside his pockets and lifted his shoulders clearly begging to feel nervous about the whole situation.

When he was about to turn to the lake again, Ed flinched when he noticed someone in front of him. How did that man get there so quietly? However, that wasn't his main concern in that moment. For some reason, he couldn't see the man's face.

The boy stepped back frowning his brows, "Are you lost too?" Stupid question, he knew, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.

The stranger didn't answer immediately, but smirked which made Edward feel even more uneasy. Should he run? Should he ask again?

"Are you ready?"

Golden eyes blinked in confusion at the question and his muscles relaxed a bit. Ready? For what? "Sorry?"

The man smirked again and stepped forward, "Are you ready?"

"Ready? Why should I be ready?"

But he didn't get an answer. The place turned black in a second and the blonde glanced around even more confused since the man had disappeared with the park. Suddenly, something under his feet began to shine and he tried to see through the light half-closing his eyes. That was when he recognized the shine, he knew it very well; he was standing over a transmutation circle, a weird transmutation circle, nothing he would've seen before.

The light forced him to close his eyes, but his body began to ache like he was in fire, like he was burning. The boy put his arms around him trying to stand the pain, but he just couldn't; the room was filled with the scream of agony of the kid.

…………

Edward reluctantly opened and sighed. That dream again…he wanted to see what happened next even thought he knew it was just his mind fooling around with him. The kid glanced at the clock which announced to be the 6:15 in the morning, so he had to get up; Roy was drinking his coffee already.

While he was in the shower, he couldn't help but think about the dream trying to understand what could it mean. Who was that man? Why did he keep asking him if he was ready? What for? He was beginning to get worried although he was sure he couldn't see the future or something…maybe he should talk to Roy.

"It's just a stupid dream…"

He wasn't sure about the 'stupid', but it certainly was just a dream. Besides, Roy had more important stuff to worry about and he was already a burden for him; he should keep his mouth shut.

The kid put his clothes on, ruffled Fuch's hair and both went downstairs where the Colonel was drinking his coffee while reading the newspaper.

"Good morning, Mustang-San"

Roy lowered the paper and smiled at the kid, "Good morning, Ed"

"What's for breakfast today?", he asked excited; maybe too excited the man thought amused.

"I'm not sure, I haven't been in the kitchen after I grabbed the coffee"

"...I'm starving"

"You're always starving"

Ed shot him a glare which made Roy smirk, but he decided to change the topic when the man's smirk made him remember his dream, "What books should I take to the Headquarters?"

"I already chose the books, I left them in the living room"

The boy nodded and grabbed a section of the newspaper which always amazed Roy. Since when was a kid was interested in the happenings around the world? Well, Edward wasn't an ordinary kid anyway, but he couldn't help but feel amazed.

Later, both walked in the Headquarter greeting everyone at their way until they reached the Colonel's office; where Riza was already placing papers in the man's desk.

"Good morning, Lieutenant"

"Good morning ,Sir", she answered with a polite smile while she approached the kid, "Good morning Edward-Kun"

"Good morning Riza-San", he said bowing, "Did you bring Hayate?"

"Of course, he is eating his breakfast; you can go with him once he's finished"

Edward nodded and headed to the table to open one of the books he had brought. Roy then glanced at the pile of documents at his desk and sweat dropped.

"At least could you wait until I'm here? It's more depressing this way…"

"I'm sorry sir, but the secretary told me that she needed those papers out of her desk right now"

"…Right. Anyway"

The Colonel kept the rest of the morning signing the documents and glancing at the boy every now and then. Edward was really concentrated in those books since he was writing some notes down and he only did that when he found something interesting. He remembered when he was studying alchemy and woke up at 5 in the morning to read that 'exciting' book he had to leave the night before; he never felt bored or dozed like he was in that moment.

"Mustang-San"

The kid's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and glanced at the blonde, "Yes?"

"I'm hungry"

"…You just had breakfast"

"What? That was 5 hours ago!"

Roy lifted a brow and looked up at the clock in the wall…11:30 already? Where did his morning go that fast? "Fine, let's go"

As both walked through the corridor, Edward glanced around noticing that some men were getting ready to leave the Headquarter as they were on their way to a mission. However, he didn't remember reading in the paper that the Military would do something as it usually says.

"Mustang-San, where are those men going?"

Roy patted the kid's head with his eyes fixed on the soldiers, "There's a small riot at North, nothing to worry about"

"You don't have to go, do you?", Ed asked clearly concerned which made the man smile.

"No, I don't have to go"

The kid smiled him back, but then he smirked, "Shoot, I thought I would get rid of you"

Roy spanked the kid in the head who bit down a cry, "Not that easy, little brat"

"I'll tell Hughes you hit me!", Ed barked with his hands on his head. "AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE?!"

"Ha, what a treat"

The man chuckled when the boy sticked his tongue out, and both reached the cafeteria. The place was full of people, so Roy tried his best to get in the line while Edward found a seat. He hated coming at this hour, but the kid was so annoying when he was hungry that he preferred this.

"Are you happy now?", Roy asked him when he was about to take a seat and the kid had a chicken sandwich already on his hands.

"Maybe"

"No, not 'maybe', say 'yes'"

"…Maybe, yes"

The man sighed in frustration, "You are impossible, you know that?"

But Edward was already chewing his food and did not pay attention to the Colonel, which only frustrated him even more. Anyway, he had grabbed a sandwich for him, so he just should enjoy his break before Riza noticed he was gone.

Suddenly, he heard a well-known but annoying voice filling the room. He looked up and saw Kimbley talking to some men in the crew, but that wasn't something extraordinary. What worried him were the eyes of the Crimson Alchemist, they were full of excitement and that could only mean one thing, one thing that he wasn't expecting at all.

"Let's eat in the office"

The boy glanced at the man still chewing the sandwich in his mouth and cocked a brow confused, but Roy had already stood up, so he grabbed his plate and did the same. However, Ed almost dropped his food when he bumped over Roy who had stopped out of the sudden.

"Hey! Watch out!"

When he was about to hit Roy with his elbow, he saw that man, Kimbley, in front of them with a wide smile that made him look insane. He and the Colonel shared looks for a few seconds before the Crimson Alchemist said anything.

"Have you heard, Mustang? They're thinking on sending State Alchemists to the field", the man said almost in a whisper so the people around wouldn't hear the conversation, "It's been a while, don't you think?"

"Step aside, Kimbley", Roy said closing his eyes as he didn't care what the man was telling.

But he didn't and Edward noticed how the Colonel clenched his fists around the dish, "Don't be such a hypocrite, I know you miss the days of battle too as I do"

"No, I don't. Excuse me"

Roy then began to walk forcing Kimbley to get out of his way, but the man's smile didn't wash out which worried Ed. The kid hurried his steps to reach Mustang and noticed how angry he seemed to be, so he decided to be quiet for the moment. When they got in the office, the blonde took a seat in the couch watching how the man stopped in front of the window and stared at the sky thoughtfully. Then he noticed that Riza was standing at his side looking at the Colonel clearly confused.

"Something happened?", she asked the kid still with her eyes on Roy.

"I'm not sure. That man, Kimbley I think, said something about State Alchemist probably being called for battle soon", the blonde said concerned, "But he told me before that he wouldn't have to go…"

The Lieutenant's face changed in a second and Ed noticed it which worried him even more. She approached Roy and both talked in whispers to each other so he couldn't hear anything. Didn't he have the right to know?

However, before he could say something, the door opened and Hughes walked in with a folder on his hands and a wide happy smile on his face. Maybe he had brought good news! But his hope died when the man grabbed a picture of his daughter and stuck it almost in the kid's nose.

"Look! Elysia managed to learn how to use the toy I bought for her all by herself! Isn't she cute?"

"…She is, Hughes-San"

The man ruffled Ed's hair thrilled and then he moved over Roy's desk who had already sat down on his chair.

"I have what you asked for", the L. Colonel said taking a seat, "Here"

Edward looked up at Roy's face, he was slightly amazed and interested about the finding, so he tried to hear what he could.

"How did you do it?", the Colonel finally asked after he opened the folder, "I hope you didn't do anything illegal, Maes"

Hughes just smiled amused, "Come on, I've already told not to ask that. Just take it"

Roy then nodded and began to read the document he had on his hands, "Right. Thank you, I promise this will be the last time"

"I know it won't be, but you're welcome"

The Colonel smirked and closed the folder placing it over the desk. "Do you want to join us?"

"I got job to do and my secretary will kill me if I don't go back now", Hughes said as he stood up and walked toward the door, "Take care of him, Edward-Kun", he said playfully which made Ed smile.

"Of course"

As Hughes left the office, Roy straightened up and signed the boy to follow him out of the place which the kid did without questions even thought he was dying to know what just happened. His curiosity grew when he realized that they were heading towards the National Library.

"Why are we going to the library? I thought you said we already read all the books that could help us"

The Colonel opened the door of the building letting the kid get inside first and then closing the door after him, "Yeah, but we got new information"

Edward lifted a brow, but he still walked behind the man until both took a seat. The kid stared at the man expectantly watching how he read the documents.

"So?", Ed asked finally after a few minutes since Roy didn't say anything

"Well", the man began placing the documents on the table, "Are you ready to know your father's name?"

Silence. Roy saw how Edward blinked a few times as he was processing what he just told him, but he couldn't tell if he was ready or not.

"We looked for information about the Elric's lineage, but we didn't find anything unusual. However, that was your mother's last name, if we know your father's, maybe we will find something", the Colonel said justifying why he had looked for the man's name, "Don't you think?"

"I know", the kid answered staring at the papers. Roy could tell that he wasn't angry, but he certainly was disconcerted, "It's just that I…I don't remember him"

The dark haired man smiled and handed the kid a sheet which had de information of the father he never knew…or maybe he had just lost his memories about him. Either way, he was relieved that the boy took it well.

"Van Hohenheim?", Ed said suddenly, one brow raised, "What kind of name is _that_?"

"I don't know, but for some reason I think I heard it before". Roy stood up and grabbed some books from the shelve, "Maybe I read about him"

"Read about him?", the boy said grabbing more books, "Unless he was famous or something, that would be impossible"

Roy just did a 'mm' sound since he was already reading, so he just opened a book and did the same. Hohenheim…he was sure he didn't remember anything about his father, but that name rang a bell on him too for some reason…

…………..

"Where's the Colonel?"

Havoc turned around and saw Riza at the frame of the door holding some papers. "I think he went to the library with Ed"

The woman sighed in resignation, "He knows I won't say anything because it's for Edward's sake. But still, he will have to take some paperwork to home"

"Come on, Lieutenant, give him a break", Fuery interceded, "He's trying to help Ed"

"If he signed those papers right when I put them on the desk like he should, he wouldn't be so behind", Riza said plainly, so there was no room for objections.

All the men sweat dropped, but when Havoc was about to say anything, a soldier showed up at the door saluting the crew and holding an envelope. All of them hated envelopes, usually they brought bad news.

"This document is for Colonel Mustang, please hand in it when he comes back"

Riza grabbed the paper and nodded, so the soldier left the room. The woman turned the document and saw the inscription on it.

"Talk already", Havoc barked since the woman didn't say anything for almost a minute.

She shot him a glare and approached the desk to leave the envelop, "It's from the Fuhrer"

The crew remained silent, almost in shock. They all knew what's those envelops were for, it wasn't certainly good news. Havoc leaned back in the couch with a deep sigh. "Damn it"


	13. Classified

Thank you for your reviews ! Hope you like this chapter.

"**Classified"**

Mustang deeply sighed and folded some papers. He glanced at the clock which read 11:32, almost midnight, and yet he still had a lot of paperwork to finish. The next time he wouldn't be so lazy at office hours…yeah, he knew he would be. The man scratched his head and looked around the table searching a document, but there where hundreds of them…he better be more organized.

In that moment, he noticed how awfully quiet the house was and stood up. When he stepped on the living room, he found what he was looking for; Edward sleeping in the couch with a book on his hands and Fuch in the floor rolled up. Roy approached him and covered the kid with a blanket since the night was quite cold, and began to grab all the books the blonde had left around the living room. The kid sure was messy.

While collecting the books from the floor, he noticed the titles of some of them and stared at the books for a moment; they were really hard if he remembered correctly, he had studied them when he was…what? 18 years old? The man smiled to himself and glanced at the little – no insults intended – blonde laid in the couch feeling proud of him even thought he was sure he shouldn't feel that way. He was becoming too attached…

In that moment, the phone rang and Roy hurried to answer it so it wouldn't wake up Edward, and it didn't; Fuch just raised his head but decided to go to sleep again.

"Mustang", he said almost whispering, but he sweat dropped when he heard all the giggling on the other side of the phone. "Hughes, do you know what time it is?"

"Of course I know", he said slightly irritated, "And Elysia just don't want to sleep"

"Are you sure you're not the cause of that?"

Hughes coughed a little but then his voice tone became serious, "So, what did it say?"

Roy sat down in the dining room table bringing the phone with him, his browns frowned, "How did you-"

"Come on, don't insult me", he said almost mischievously, "Just tell me"

"Yeah yeah", the man answered followed by a sigh. A sigh Hughes knew very well and nothing ever came from it, "I have to be ready, there are possibilities that they will call State Alchemist to battle"

"Possibilities?", Hughes repeated feeling how his chest contracted, "High possibilities?"

Roy didn't answer for a moment and his friend knew that he was analyzing the situation, not ignoring him, "We could say that there are 70 chance that they do it"

"….High possibilities, then"

"Yeah…What am I going to do with Ed? I just can't leave him with someone, he is not dangerous but only I know how what to do in case he lose control"

Maes noticed how worry the man was and it made him smile. He didn't remember his friend that way since…well, ever. And he liked it more that he was worried over a kid, "Have you told him?"

"No, I don't know how, I don't know how he would react", Roy said glancing at the sleepy boy who had rolled up, "I can't leave him, Hughes"

"I know, Roy"

If the kid wasn't sleeping in that moment, he would have hit the table with his fist; He hated not having control over the situation

"It's not for sure yet", Hughes told him trying to be a little optimistic, "For now do your best to find something about Ed's father"

"We haven't found anything", Roy said with sorrow, "I can't place where I read about him before"

In that moment, Edward stirred awake and glanced around still half slept. He could hear Roy's voice, but only his, so the man surely was talking to the phone. The kid got up of the couch and began to pick up the books of the floor to put them back in the bookshelf; he was too tired to read something.

He heard Roy saying something about Hohenheim, how they couldn't find information, so he had to be talking to Hughes. Wasn't quite late anyway? The blonde put most of the books back, but one of them had its spot at the higher shelf of the furniture. He wordlessly cursed for being so short and decided to hide the book on a commode that was at the right.

He opened the drawer and put the book at the end so he could take it out tomorrow discretely; however, when he was about to close it, something caught his attention. It was another book, with a black leather cover and gold letters that read 'Classified Information'. He knew he shouldn't read it, but his eyes shined of excitement and quickly opened it to see if it was something interesting for him.

And it was. Inside the book, he read 'Alchemy Prohibited by the Military'. He felt shivers along his spine and threw the book a fast glance leafing through pages. Formulas, transmutations circles and more were contained in that book…transmutation circles…maybe he should look for the one he saw on his dreams every now and then. He had read again some books trying to find it but he was unable, so this could be his opportunity.

Confirming that Roy was still talking to the phone, he hurried to his bedroom and hid the book under his bed. He thought it again and decided to take a removable cover of some book, put it on and hide it inside his backpack, it would be less risky.

With a sigh, he went downstairs where he heard Mustang yelling at Hughes since he was ignoring him for Elysia. A second latter, the man hung up the device so strong he thought he had broke it, but the boy could understand the man's frustration.

"Riza-San would have shot you if she had heard how you hit the phone", the kid said suddenly catching the man's attention who only smirked.

"But she is not here", Roy assured, "And you should be sleeping"

"Who can sleep with all that noise?"

The dark-haired man noticed the grin on the boy's face, he was just teasing him, "Do you want to take a walk?"

The blonde threw the man a dumbfounded look, "Now? It's 12:35 at night"

Roy straightened up to grab his coat and threw Ed's his own, "Don't be such a baby, come on"

"Who are you calling a baby?!"

The man was already outside the house, so Edward growled and closed the door hurrying to catch up Roy. He put on his crimson coat and shrugged since it was a cold night, a beautiful yet cold night. The blonde threw Roy a sidelong glance and noticed that he was just lost on his thoughts, but he seemed worried.

"Mh…Mustang-San?"

The man snapped out of his thoughts and looked down and the kid drawing a smile on his face, "Yes?"

A fake smile of course, "Is it something wrong?"

Roy stared at the blonde for a moment, he surely was perceptive, "Well, nothing is wrong at the moment, but do you remember what I told you at the Headquarters?"

The boy leant his head to one side, "About what?"

"You asked me if I had to go with those soldiers, remember?"

OK, this just suddenly took a dangerous direction, "…Yes"

"When we went to the National Library, the Fuhrer sent me a document"

Edward nodded apprehensively, "…OK…"

"And", Roy sighed, not sure why, "It's probable that I will have to go with those men…eventually"

The blonde stopped abruptly, so the man had to do the same a few steps forward turning around to see the kid's face, which made his heart squeeze. Ed's face was a combination of fear, angriness and confusion.

"B-but you told me…"

"I know", Roy said with a soft voice approaching him, "It's not for sure yet and I swear to you that I didn't know about it, I'm still trying to find out why they need State Alchemists since the battle isn't out of control yet"

Edward's angriness disappeared, but he was still confused and full of fear, "But you can't go. It's not fair"

"Military is not about fairness, Edward", he said gently pushing the kid so they would start walking again, "Don't worry, OK? We will work something out, I will not let you here unprotected"

"I'm not worry about me", he suddenly complained with a grumpy tone of voice.

Roy then looked down at him cocking a brow, "What?"

"It's not me that I'm worry about", he repeated frowning, "You're going to battle, why should I be worry about me?"

Well, the dark-haired man didn't expect that and took him off guard, but he couldn't hold back a soft smile, "I'm the Flame Alchemist, there's nothing to be concerned of"

"I would care less if you were the Mega Hyper Lava Alchemist, you're still be on battle"

Roy almost chuckled, but he was more touched than anything. He ruffled the boy's golden hair and smirked at his cute angry face.

"I told you it's not sure yet, so let's forget about it for now"

Edward rolled his eyes, but he did as told. He felt a cold breeze and crossed his arms trying to keep himself warm, but then, a hand on his shoulder pushed him gently against the man. He looked up just to see how Roy was lost on his thought again, so he decided not to disturb him. However, this felt _so_ _good_. He wanted to hug him, but he decided against, it was embarrassing enough that he enjoyed this.

…………

Golden eyes glanced around quite awkward. He was sitting in the middle of the living room since Alphonse and Winry had gone to the kitchen to grab some snacks; they had been reading for almost 3 hours now. Well, Winry was busy analyzing a piece of automail or something, but still the same.

Roy was in that moment at the Headquarters with the hope that he would receive a justification about the calling and he had to stay at Pinako's house. It wasn't that bad actually, he was having fun discussing alchemy with Alphonse, but the looks Winry threw him every now and then to his arm made him nervous for moments. Probably she had figured it out that he had an automail arm by now, but no way in Earth he would let her put a finger on it, so he didn't say anything.

Finally they showed up with a plate full of food and sat at the floor where he was reading one of the books.

"We brought sandwiched, drinks and some candies", the girl said cheerfully.

"Thank you, you shouldn't have bothered"

Al shook his head, "It wasn't a bother at all. Let's continue that one"

Edward nodded and both began to talk a transmutation circle they had found while Winry heard their conversation. She wasn't really interested in alchemy, but their debates were quite fun to hear.

"I think something is missing in this circle", Al suggested scratching his head.

The blonde analyzed the page for a moment with a finger on his lips. Yes, something was definitely missing. He grabbed a sheet and began to copy the circle slowly so he could get the logic of the circle. Then, he added something and Al smiled satisfied.

"Of course", he said nodding, "You're a genius"

"Nah, I just have read a lot lately"

Alphonse grinned and he was about to open another book, but in that moment, he saw how one was almost out of Ed's backpack, one he had never seen before. "What's that book about?"

The blonde glanced at his side and his eyes widened when he realized it was _the book, _he had forgotten that he had put it in there.

"…It's nothing, a boring book Mustang-San asked me to read"

"So why it says 'Classified'?"

Both kids turned to see Winry. She had noticed the fake cover and from her angle she could read the title. Edward was speechless for a moment looking at the two kids, just blinking without a clue of what to do. Should he show them the book? What if they told Roy? He had any reason to believe they would do that, but still it was a risk.

"You have to promise you won't tell Mustang-San", he said with a hint of nervousness on his voice, but he relaxed a bit when he saw how his friends nodded for real.

"We won't tell, we promise"

Edward sighed and grabbed the book. He hasn't even opened it yet, but he laid it at the floor and did it. The kid leafed through the pages for a while and nobody said anything, they were away to shocked to articulate a word.

Chimeras, destruction, torturing…human transmutation – Ed flinched – and more could be found in that book. The kids stared at the pages, but Winry decided to look away and wait until the boys satisfied their curiosity.

"This is…horrible", Al muttered, "How can anyone use alchemy for this?"

Ed didn't answer or said anything since he was one of those 'anyone's'. However, he shook his head and began to draw the transmutation circle that he kept seeing on his dreams to show it to Al, "Help me find this one"

The boy grabbed the sheet and analyzed the drawing for a moment while Edward began to read the book, "It's so complex, where you saw this?"

Damn it. He couldn't say 'in a dream', so he had to make up with a excuse, "Once, a long time ago…I'm not sure where"

Fortunately, Alphonse bought the lie and approached him to read the book too while Winry decided to go back to what she was doing, "Alchemy can be used for that?", she innocently asked.

Both boys looked up at her and nodded, "As everything, in the wrong hands, can be used for bad", Alphonse began raising a finger, "Like automail, some people add weapons to their arms or legs"

A very convincing argument Edward thought, and so did Winry since she just looked away.

………….

Roy was in front of the Fuhrer's office waiting until he finished the meeting he had with some Generals. He wouldn't leave the Headquarters until he heard a convincing explanation. He knew he could be called as a State Alchemist, but it has to be for strong reason.

He waited like an hour until the door opened and he saw the Generals walking out the office, so when they were gone, he waited at the frame of the door.

"Colonel Mustang, come in please"

And so he did. He stopped in front of the man's desk and saluted him, "My apologizes, Fuhrer. But I need to share a word with you"

"And you may, Colonel. You can rest"

Roy lowered his hand and put them at his side firmly, "Fuhrer, I need to know why State Alchemist are needed at the battlefield"

The Fuhrer smiled, "I knew you would come, Colonel"

The dark-haired man then waited until the Commander in Chief began to talk again, he was taking his time for sure.

"How's Edward?"

….Right. "He's fine, sir. Healthy and happy"

"Good, good"

Roy cocked a brow confused, but he wouldn't dare to question the Fuhrer, he had to wait.

"Have you found how to control his alchemy?"

"He's well trained, sir, he can control it now", Roy said doing his best to remain emotionless, "As long as he is not pushed too hard, he will be able to live perfectly normal"

Bradley smiled satisfied by the answer, "I see. However, what will happen if he is pushed too hard?"

The Colonel didn't like the question, _at all_, "Then it could be fatal for him and anyone around him"

The Fuhrer's smile made him feel uneasy, like he was checking if everything was going as planned. "There isn't another way to make sure he won't lose control again?"

Ah, what he was waiting for, "No sir, we're researching but so far, no"

"Good", he said as he opened a folder, "State Alchemists are needed at the North because the rebels from Drachma are stronger that we thought. We need to hold them back"

Roy frowned, "Sir, with all the respect, you don't need me for that"

"Of course I do", the Fuhrer added with a playful voice, "Your alchemy would be helpful since they use the snow to their advantage. Don't you agree, Colonel?"

The Colonel stared at the man for a moment, but then sighed in resignation, "Of course, sir"

"Wonderful"

………..

"I found it!"

Edward and Winry flinched at the sudden announcement of Al, but the boy quickly approached his friend who had a finger over a transmutation circle of the book he had taken from Roy's house.

"This is the circle"

Ed grabbed the book and began to analyze it quietly, but he grinned when he realized that indeed it was what he was looking for, "Thanks Al!"

Winry just saw how both began read apprehensively, but she was already tired, "Hey, let's go outside to play something". However, she was ignored by the boys, "HEY!"

The girl sweat dropped since neither of the two made a sound or something, just kept reading. Anyway…

Suddenly, Winry noticed the weird face Al had in that moment, it was like he was scared, "What's wrong?"

"This circle…who could have thought of doing something like that?", Al said not really directing the question to someone.

Edward ran his fingers through his golden bang, his eyes widened, feeling his mouth completely dry. "This thing, once activated, will suck the essence of whatever is over the circle leaving an empty 'shell'. It has been used in humans and the result is a state of comma for the victim for the rest of his life"

Winry wasn't sure what that could mean at all, but she decided not to ask. Alphonse, on the other side, stared at Ed.

"Ed, are you alright?"

But the kid didn't answer right away, his thoughts were focused in remembering his dream. This had to be just a coincidence…it had to.

"Ed-Kun", Winry tried again pocking the kid's shoulder that made him react.

"Eh, what were you saying?"

Al and Winry glanced at each other confused, but Edward was already reading again, so they decided to stay quiet until he was finished.


	14. Alchemy Legends

"**Alchemy Legends"**

"He gave me the lamest justification I ever heard"

Hughes almost chuckled but he held it. It was weird to see his best friend that shocked, "So?"

"So", he sighed, "I've to think of something in case he decide to threw us there"

The L. Colonel tapped his fingers thoughtfully for a moment glancing around the bar, "You won't take him with you, will you?"

Roy threw his friend an odd look, "I've thought of it, but I don't want him to be near the battlefield"

In that moment, Riza appeared at his side taking a seat and ordering white wine, "Sorry I'm late, Hayate did a mess at my apartment"

Both men's eyes widened, "You didn't kill him, did you?"

"Barely", she flatly said. She was obviously still angry. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well", Roy began after he gulped feeling bad for the dog, "The Fuhrer almost confirmed that State Alchemists are going to battle, so I need your opinions about Edward"

The woman flinched at the sudden news and frowned. "Did he tell you why he wanted you to go too?"

The dark-haired man glanced around checking if someone was too close to eavesdrop the conversation, "You won't want to know, believe me. For now let's focus in Ed"

She sighed and grabbed the glass with her drink, "What do you want to do?"

"I can't take him with me, but I can't leave him here without huge protection", Roy muttered turning his gaze to Hughes and then to Riza, "The things Bradley asked me told me that he is getting ready to do whatever he want to do with the kid"

"What do you mean?", Hughes inquired as he lifted his glasses.

"He asked me how well Edward was doing controlling his alchemy and", Roy threw a look around again, "If I could control him"

Riza's brows twitched, "Can you?"

The Colonel didn't say anything for a moment, as he was regretting what he was about to say, "I found how"

_Edward laid down in the grass with a deep __breath of tiredness. Roy then approached him and sat at his side._

"_I told you not to overwork. When you feel that you are losing it, you have to stop"_

_The blonde glared at him, "Don't you think I'm trying? It's not that easy, you know?"_

"_I'm not saying it's easy, I'm asking you to concentrate, to focus"_

_Ed bit his lip and moved his eyes to see the blue sky. They had been in that place for four weeks now and even when he had more control over his alchemy, he kept losing it if he had to transmute something huge. Roy was reading one book quietly as the blonde stood up and approached Fuch to play with him, he needed a break anyway. _

"_I'll be right back, we're going to the lake", the boy announced with a grin as Fuch jumped happily. _

"_It's going to get dark soon, come back before that"_

_Ed nodded and both disappeared between the trees. The man then grabbed his jaw thoughtfully analyzing a transmutation circle that he had found weeks ago which he had modified; he wasn't sure if it was what he was looking for since it could be dangerous. He would have to consult it with the kid since he was amazing when it comes to transmutation circles. Roy wished he was that kind of logic, that way he could be more useful for the boy. _

_An hour later, he noticed that the sun __had almost disappeared and he glanced to the way the kid had taken quite annoyed. He never listened to him. The man stood up and headed to find the blonde before the night showed at the sky; he would have to scowl him so he would actually do as told. _

_Edward, instead, was swimming in the lake with his clothes on not quite concerned as Roy was about the sunset. The place was surrounded by a cliff that created a beautiful waterfall that Edward loved, but he would dare to go that far with an automail arm. _

_Fuch then growled__, "I know! I'm going", he barked and he swam to the edge. However, he noticed something was wrong, very wrong. Fuch had rolled up scared and everything around here began to shake, so he hurried to grab the fox in his arms. 'An Earthquake!,' he looked around trying to see what could work as a refuge, but it was all trees and rocks. _

_Suddenly, a strong sound caught his attention and looked up to the waterfall. The cliff was cracking dangerously, so he ran to get far from the place; however, Fuch jumped from his arms and ran to the exact opposite direction._

"_FUCH!"_

_The __boy turned around and followed the animal which was running towards a little hole in the rocks, but Edward noticed how the rocks began to fall so the fox would not make it in that place Gritting his teeth, the blonde clapped his hands and touched the ground as the transmutation began to shine. _

_Edward smiled since everything was going just fine, the rocks were almost back to its place and he wasn't feeling anything yet, but the earthquake wasn't finished and large piece of the mountain __slipt. Without time to think in another strategy, Ed focused and the power of the transmutation increased significantly; it was when he began to feel it. 'Concentrate, you can do it', he shut his eyes and used all the strength he had, but it was too much. The transmutation went out of control and kid fell on his knees with his hands on his head shaking. 'Not again!!'_

_The sensation of something trying to take him off his body was so strong that he thought he would die there; it wasn't pain per se, but it was a lot worse. And now, Mustang wasn't there to help him...or so he thought. _

_An arm embraced him as he looked up to see Roy's fearfully face, "Concentrate Edward, forget about everything and concentrate. You can stop this"_

_The kid narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "I-I can't!"_

"_Do it Edward. Now!"_

_The blonde placed both hands over the grass and gripped the leafs as he gritted his teeth. He had to do it, he had to. Roy then noticed how the transmutation was being shutting down slowly, maybe too slowly. Ed then grabbed the man's arm and he looked down to see those golden orbits full of fear; he felt so helpless like this._

_Then he rem__embered the transmutation circle. He took the sheet and thought of it for a second since it could be dangerous to use a circle he didn't know exactly what it did, but he would have to find out later._

_Roy held the kid tight, put the piece of paper on the grass and activated the transmutation. For a few seconds, the man closed his eyes and focused in don't let Ed go, but everything was over as it began. Edward drew from Roy and glanced around confused noticing the paper on the ground. _

"_Wha-….How-…?", the kid began when the man opened his eyes ,his breath raced. _

"…_It worked"_

_The blonde stared at him waiting for an explanation, but the man just patted his head with a soft smile._

"_It worked", he repeated._

"That's how I discovered how to stop him", the man said as he took a sip of his drink.

"You used something like that…without knowing the consequences?", Riza asked accusatorily

Roy discretely moved away from her scared, "Sort of, I had an idea but I wasn't sure if it would work"

"It's like it was the opposite of Edward's alchemy?", Hughes risked trying to change the direction of the conversation

"Something like that, it nullify his alchemy", the Colonel explained, "I had to modify it a lot, but I know should have consulted Edward about it before", he added noticing the glare of Riza.

"He's Ok with that anyway?", the woman asked giving up.

Roy threw her a odd look, "Of course he is OK, now he is more confident when he use his alchemy because he knows I can do something about it"

Maes caught the hidden message, "But if you go…"

"I'm more worried about the interest of others over him than that, so this should be just between us. I don't want anyone to know how to control his alchemy"

Both friends nodded agreeing with his concern.

……………….

"Did you get fun?"

Edward closed his backpack and put it on his back, "Yeah, we read a lot and created some transmutation circles", he said excited.

"…And that's what kids do these days…", the blonde glared at Roy who only smirked amused, "Let's dinner out of the house"

"Really? I thought you didn't like it"

"I don't, but I feel like doing something different", he confessed which made Edward grin.

Then the blonde remembered, "What did the Fuhrer tell you?"

Oh yeah, that, "Well, he said that it wasn't for sure yet", the man lied without a particular expression on his face.

"But why do they have to send you?"

It wouldn't be that easy, would be? "Because my alchemy would be a strong advantage in the battlefield since the North is covered with snow"

Edward just 'mh'ed lifting a brow, but Roy patted the kid's head and he decided to drop the subject for now. Soon, both got into a nice cafeteria near their house where they discovered a delicious stew .

"So, we need to talk", Roy announced when the waitress brought their drinks.

Edward took a sip of his juice, "You used to say that when you dated a girl more than once", the kid commented with a smirk as the man glared at him, "Tell me"

Roy coughed to clear his throat, "Well, we have to think of something in case I actually have to go to the North"

"Can I go with you?", the blonde risked knowing what the answer would be.

However, the dark-haired man moved his glass back and forwards, "I'll be honest with you", he said, "I think it would be best if you came with me, but I don't want you to be anywhere near the battlefield"

Ed stared at him surprised, "I want to go with you"

"Besides, maybe we're being paranoiac about the whole thing", he added after he drank his soda, "And I can't be sure that I would be able to protect you over there. What if they attack the camp?"

"But I want to go"

"Of course we have one more problem", the man continued ignoring Ed, "It would not be easy to hide a 10 years old boy, no matter how short he is"

"I want to g-", Ed blinked a few times processing what Roy had just said, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT IT WOULD FIT INSIDE A LUGGAGE!"

"I would be easier if you actually did", the man said quietly drinking his soda.

"Mustang-San!"

"Take it easy, OK? I'm listening to you", Roy assured as he drew himself closer to the table, "I haven't decided what to do, both options are equally dangerous. And by the way, I think it's time to you to call me Roy"

Edward growled and averted his eyes. He knew it was dangerous, but he would felt a lot safer with Roy, even far from the city he had got to know.

"I wanted to ask you something", the man suddenly asked. The blonde glanced at him slightly mad. "About the circle"

Golden eyes widened nervously, "…What circle?"

"You know, the _circle_"

Edward opened his mouth but didn't say anything just staring at Roy. Had he discovered about the book? But how could he know about the transmutation circle he saw in his dreams? He shifted nervously on his chair and lowered his eyes.

The man cocked a brow, "What's wrong?", he asked concerned. Maybe Riza was right after all? "I know we haven't talk about it, but I want to know how you feel about it"

"…About it?"

Roy rolled his eyes impatient, "You know,_ the circle_"

Oh…_that circle. _"What about it?"

"Are you listening to me or just pretending to be?"

"Sorry", he said with a nervous grin.

"I want to know how you feel about it", when he noticed the confused gaze of the kid, he decided to explain more, "Are you ok with me using it?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Well, Riza had been wrong this time, "I don't know…I don't think I would love the idea of someone having that kind of control over me"

"I don't", the kid plainly assured, "But as long as is you, I'm OK with it"

Roy smirked, "I could get fun with that, you know?", he teased.

"I know you won't"

The man was taken back by the seriousness on the kid's voice. Had he said something wrong? "Everything's OK, Ed?"

Golden eyes met onyx eyes. Ed moved his hand nervously telling to his insides how stupid he was again and again; he didn't want him to know, at least not before he could find who the man was in his dream. Still, he couldn't help but take Roy's comments so serious, connecting them to the _other circle_, "Of course, why you ask?"

Roy tapped his fingers looking at the kid's grin, looking at the kid's _fake_ grin, "Just asking"

The waitress then arrived with their food and Edward took the chance to change the conversation, "By the way, do you know what happened to Winry and Al's parents?"

"…Winry and Al's parents?", he repeated for the sudden change of topic. Ed nodded so he remained thoughtful for a moment before answering. "Pinako told me that Winry's parents died at Ishbal war, they were doctors", he began, his voice quite hollow, "Al's…I'm not that sure actually"

The blonde threw him and odd look, but he had managed to distract Roy, "How can't you know?"

"I think it was a car accident… I don't recall Pinako telling me the details", the man answered before he put some food on his mouth, "Why do you ask?"

"Just…because", he said holding his fork, "It's not like I can ask them"

"They have live with Pinako since they were almost babies, "Roy continued, "I used to help her when she had to go to meet a client or something"

Edward's eye twitched, "…You were…a babysitter?"

"NO", he barked, "I just helped her"

"…That's babysitting", the kid teased with a snicker.

The man glared at the boy and concentrated on his food, "Shut up"

………

Roy shifted in his bed one more time. For some reason he just couldn't fall sleep even thought he hadn't drunk coffee that night and didn't feel particularly worried. Maybe it was just insomnia. Damn it.

He got up from his bed and went downstairs to make him a cup of coffee. If he couldn't sleep, at least is should be for a good and tasty reason. While the drink was ready, he grabbed a book that Edward had left over the table and read it…just for the distraction. However, the formulas written in there were away too complex for his mood that night, so he closed it.

A few minutes later, he was in the couch with the TV on and a coffee mug on his hand. There was nothing to see at that hours, but it was better than moving around his bed bored. In that moment, he recalled the talk he had had with Ed at the cafeteria, how he had _lied_ to him. Why the blond would do that? Well, two reasons came to his mind; one, the kid was afraid that he would get hurt if he involved the man, and two, he didn't want to worry him since he had a lot to think about.

Either way, he would find out what the blonde was hiding and he would hope it wasn't something to worry about. Anyway, he had to make a decision about the kid, should he take the boy with him? Should he leave him? What he said over there was true, he wasn't sure he would be able to protect him if the battle went out of control…but here, even when he asked everyone to stay with Ed, he would be too vulnerable. Guns didn't have a change against alchemy and the Fuhrer could ask any State Alchemist to come for Edward.

Why could the Fuhrer possibly want with the kid anyway? A weapon maybe? No, Ed could not control his alchemy to that level and it would be a danger to anyone, including the commander in chief. So, a treat? It would make a lot more sense, to use the blonde as a treat…the only thought made him nauseous.

Roy drank his coffee slowly just staring at the TV, his mind a mess. What if, apart from the Fuhrer, the stupid members of the Alchemists Union took the chance too to attack Edward? The man ran a hand on his dark hair with a deep sigh of concern, but then, he flinched. He remained quiet analyzing the thought that had just came to his mind over and over before he brought a hand to his mouth.

"…Could it be….?"

The Colonel stood up and ran to his small library and began to throw the books one by one looking for a specific book, a book that it wasn't there. 'Where is it?'. He went to the commode and opened the drawer and did the same until he found a brown leather book with the inscription of "Alchemy Legends" and stared at it for a moment before opening it.

"Come on, come on!"

Page to page he read the titles of the articles until one of then caught his attention, one of then that had looked a long time ago, a_ very long_ time ago. His eyes moved quickly through the words, his mind playing with him with scenes of the young Roy full of despair, hope and fear, thoughts of what he could do if he had that _thing_ on his hands.

But now, he wasn't looking for something to cure his heart, something that could bring his family back. Still, there he was reading about the Philosopher Stone, the legendary stone that could do anything, make any wish come true, that could challenge the equivalent law of alchemy. He hated that once he believed all that crap with all his heart, but now he had one reason to stare at the page shocked.

There, at the middle of the article, was the name of "Van Hohenheim", the creator of the last Philosopher Stone known.


	15. Change of Plans

**Jc **– Fuch is from 'Füchs' that, as far I know, means fox in German ; I'm not that creative with names XD

…………………………………………………………………………

"**Change of Plans"**

Edward growled in annoyance. He sat up in his bed trying to get his hair out of his face, and then he put a hand on his shoulder; his right shoulder. He was feeling slightly sore for a few hours now, but he thought it would just vanish. However, it had been a while since he had his last check up…

Reluctantly, he stood up of the bed since the pain was increasing and he had to do something before it got a lot worse. It was 3:45 in the morning though…The kid swore under his breath and headed to Roy's bedroom feeling uneasy; he didn't want to wake up the man at this hour because he couldn't handle a little pain, but he knew it wouldn't be 'little' in next hour.

Shyly, he knocked at the door, but it was open oddly enough since the man never locked it, but at least it was always closed at night. He took a peek to the dark room, but he quickly noticed that no one was in the bed. Confused, he went downstairs expecting to see Roy drinking coffee since that what he always did when he couldn't sleep, but nobody was there.

However, he glanced at the table and noticed a few books opened, so he the man had to be there somewhere. Twitch. The stupid pain again. He hurried to the door where an officer was looking television, an officer Mustang had hired a few days ago.

"Excuse me, have you seen Mus…Roy-San?", the kid asked placing a hand over his shoulder again.

The man nodded, "He went out, he should arrive pretty soon since he said it wouldn't take him long"

Damn it. Well, he only could wait at this point, so he went back to the dining room to check on the books Roy was reading before he left. The boy sat down and his golden orbits moved along the pages full of words trying to get what were these books about. He grabbed one and began to read trying to ignore the increasing ache on his right arm. '_Philosopher Stone?_' He flipped some pages not quite sure what was so interesting in a _legend_ anyway, but if Roy was reading all this it should be important somehow.

Finally, he heard the front door opening and Roy appearing at the living room with some books in his hands, looking at the kid dumbfounded, "Hey, what are you doing awake?"

"I was looking for you", the blonde answered, but hurried to ask before the man could say anything, "Where have you been anyway?"

Roy dropped the books in the table and took a seat, "I went to the National Library"

Ed narrowed his eyes confused, "At this hour?"

"I'm a Colonel _and_ a State Alchemist", the man remarked with a smirk, "I can go at any hour I want"

"Right", Edward began to read the titles of the books, "What are you looking for?"

"I found something really interesting about your father", Roy began opening one of the books.

"...My father?"

"That's right. I was looking in one of my old and forgotten books and I found his nam-", Ed flinched when he noticed how the man was looking at him, "Are you all right?"

Golden eyes averted and he shifted in the chair, "Why you ask?"

"You're sweating and your left hand is shaking", he said as he stood up and approached the boy.

_Damn it_. "It's just…", his eyes narrowed when Roy put a hand on his forehead to check if he didn't have a fever, "My automail"

The raven-haired man kneeled and stared at the blonde for a moment, "It's hurting?". His concerned grew when the blonde nodded embarrassed. He then straightened up and hurried to grab the phone.

"Roy-Sa-"

But the man was already talking to someone, so the boy just stood there scratching the back of his head. Who could he be calling at this hour anyway?

"Let's go", the man announced suddenly pushing the kid out of the dining room.

"The hospital is pretty far from here", the boy said as he stood up.

Roy turned around to see him with a smile, "But we're not going to the hospital"

Twitch. "Where are we going?", he asked, a brow cocked, "Who did you call?"

Almost ten minutes later, Edward was laid down in a bed, his eyes narrowed hi annoyance. He heard someone moving something heavy and he turned his head to see an old woman walking towards him with some tools on her hand.

"I'm really sorry, Pinako-San", Roy apologized one more time, "I couldn't trust an automail to nobody else"

The woman smirked, "I'm glad to hear that. Alright, Edward-Kun, let's see your arm"

The blonde growled, but he took off his glove and his shirt and laid down again with a grumpy expression on his face.

"What's with the mood?", the woman asked him as she grabbed the arm and gently placed it in his working table next to the bed.

"Nothing"

"Don't like people touching your _short_ arm?", she said mockingly.

Twitch again. "Not really", he hissed, "And don't call me short"

Pinako was about to say something – another tease of course – when Winry showed up with a thin can and a sleepy Al to his side. The blonde just turned his head slightly blushed in embarrassment.

"Here is the oil grandma", she said with an excited smile on her face, "Can I assist you?"

The old woman smiled softly, "Of course dear, come here"

Edward tried to focus his mind in something else, but it founded hard since, well, some ones were _poking their hands_ in his arm.

"I knew you had an automail", the girl assured proudly.

The boy just averted his eyes. He saw Roy taking a seat to his side and watching the whole process with a concerned face.

"I'm not going to die, you know?"

Roy threw him a hard look, "Anything about automails are jokes, you know?"

The kid rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. "Sorry"

"How long since your last check up, kid?", Pinako suddenly asked catching his attention.

The blonde stared at her for a moment as he was calculating the time, "Two months I think"

Winry threw him a glare, "You know you have to have monthly checkups at this age"

He sweat dropped when he felt the accusing eyes of Roy in the back of his head, "I…forgot"

Roy sighed crossing his arms, "He will do it from now on, Pinako"

Flinch of pain. Edward screwed his eyes shut and the man threw Pinako a worried gaze, but the old woman just nodded assuring that everything was going just fine.

"Are you ready to the nerves' reconnection?", Pinako asked the boy placing the wrench in the spot.

The blonde flinched, but he nodded since he knew it had to be done. Roy just saw how Edward's face twisted – almost funnily – as he growled in pain, but soon it was over.

"Try to get some sleep, Edward. And please Roy, remember the monthly checkups if he doesn't"

The man nodded and Edward stood up testing the movement of his arm even thought he was still sore. "Again, thank you so much for this"

"I'll give you the bill tomorrow", Pinako said with a smirk, the man doing the same.

As they arrived to Roy's house, the boy was already rubbing his eyes dozed, so the man walked him to his room.

"Have some sleep, ok?", the man told him almost teasing him.

Edward just yawned and moved his hand as he entered his bedroom, "Good night"

"Good night, kiddo"

The blonde closed the door and Roy headed to his own room to do the same; he would have to forget about the brand new information for now since was exhausted. Tomorrow would be another day.

…………..

When Roy woke up the next morning, he almost jumped from the bed when he noticed it was already the 10:34. He'd never wake up that late. He grabbed his coat and ran downstairs just to see a half sleep Edward thinking something with books in front of him and Fuch under the table.

"Good morning", the man greeting him to what the kid just raised his hand, "What are you doing?"

"Looking for the information you said you found about my father", the boy answered after he drank his juice, "But you brought a lot of books about…the_ Philosopher Stone_?", he added flipping a page.

He signed the maid to bring him a cup of coffee and sat down in front of the blonde, "Here, read this"

Ed grabbed the book and read the circled text as fast as he could, his eyes changing from shocked to confused to incredulous, "Are you saying this Van Hohenheim was my father? He would have been 400 years old! Don't be ridiculous"

"Than man created the last philosopher stone known, I'm quite sure he would have lived all that time if that was true"

The blonde threw Roy an odd look, "Do you believe…this? The philosopher stone?"

The man grabbed his coffee mug and leaned on the chair, "I did. Once", he said, his eyes looking at nothing, "But I think is worth to believe it now"

"Mh", Edward lifted a brow, "What could it mean to me anyway?"

Roy smirked, "That, my boy, isn't just the right question?"

The man opened another book and grabbed his jaw thoughtfully as he read, Edward just stared at him. Nobody said anything for almost 5 minutes, until Roy decided to look to the kid.

"According to this, _he was_ the philosopher stone"

Golden eyes twitched, "What do you mean with that?"

"The philosopher stone was inside him", the man began with a finger over the sheet, but then he looked back to the boy, "Maybe…"

He certainly didn't like Roy's expression, "…Maybe?"

However, the raven-haired just shook his head and grabbed his coffee mug, "No, nothing"

Edward rolled his eyes and then frowned, "Tell me. Now"

"It was nothing", the man insisted waving his hand. But he just flinched when he saw the piercing gaze of the boy, that meant that he was being serious, "It was really…nothing"

"But still I want to know"

Right. He and his huge mouth, "What if…", the man began frowning, "If he really was your father, maybe you inherited some of it?"

The blonde blinked, and them a few times more, but he leaned on his chair staring at the man's face, "No, it just couldn't", he said quietly, "If that philosopher stone really does what it says it does, I…"

Silence. Roy watched how Ed lowered his head hiding his face with his bangs, "You?"

The kid clenched his hands around the glass, "I…I would have succeeded bringing my mom back"

Damn it. Roy closed his eyes repeating in his head what a fool he was, but he then noticed that Ed was already looking at him.

"Since I didn't, I think we will have to assume that can't be the reason", he said almost coldly.

That was it. Mustang closed the books and stood up to close the one Edward had in front of him making the boy look at him confused, "Go to change, we're going out"

"…What?"

"It's enough for today, I want to go out", the man said almost as an order.

Edward nodded still baffled, but did as told and went upstairs to get ready. Roy, in the other hand, stared at the books in the table worried. He was sure he was in the right lead and he didn't like it. _At all_. But this could explain everything, including why the Fuhrer and the Alchemists Union would be that interested in a little boy.

Trying to shake all that thoughts off his head, he went upstairs to take a shower. He wasn't sure where he wanted to go, but it didn't matter. He wanted to clear his mind for a few hours at least.

Almost 1 hour later, both were downtown, the boy with an ice cream on his hand and sitting in one of the public seats. Roy was a few feet in front of him flirting with a young woman who only blushed at every man's word. He couldn't help but roll his eyes and enjoy the dessert while it lasted.

They had been walking around buying books and stuff, just enjoying the Sunday. Roy wanted to kid to get distracted, although he thought he needed it too. And it certainly did when he found a lovely young lady.

However, he felt a pair of eyes piercing him from the back of his head. He excused himself and turned around to glare at the blonde, but he was just licking the ice cream with a wide smirk on his face. Then, he noticed another blonde staring at him, hard.

"H-hi", he greeted taken off guard, "Lieutenant"

Edward chuckled, he really found funny how the man got so nervous, like he was doing something that he shouldn't. He patted Hayate's head and saw how both adults took a seat with him.

"What are you doing around here?", Roy asked her.

"Just shopping for groceries", she answered smiling at Edward, "I'm glad you two go out once in a while"

"Will you like to join us to lunch?"

"Of course"

Ed just enjoyed watching how Roy behaved so politely around her, something he usually wasn't. He didn't say anything thought, but it was fun.

"Hayate, sit down"

The dog did as told and Riza gave him some bone shaped cookies which he enjoyed. Edward smiled and hoped Fuch was that obedient; the devil fox only heard him when he knew it would get something from him.

"Well, I'm going to buy the food. Wait me here" Roy announced standing up and disappearing in the crowd.

"You usually come here, don't you?", Riza asked the boy suddenly.

Edward nodded, "He likes coming here. This is where the ladies gather I guess"

Riza sighed in resignation. Yeah, that could be a reason, "And you?"

"Me?", the kid asked surprised.

"Do you like here?"

He looked at her for a moment, but then he nodded happily, "Yeah, I like in here"

The woman smiled him back and then Roy came back with a tray full of food taking a seat, "Well, be my guests"

In that moment, a couple of young women that were walking nearby threw a girly laugh between them. Roy of course recognized some of them

"Nice family, Mr. Mustang", one of the women said as they walked away with a girly laugh.

The three froze for a moment, but then sweat dropped slightly blushed. "Just…eat", the man said sighing.

"So, Roy", the woman began grabbing her drink, "Edward-Kun was telling me why you like to come here"

The man glared at the boy who was already pretending to be interested watching something else, "Whatever he said, it's not true"

"Are you sure?", she insisted lifting a brow.

Damn brat. When he was about to smack the kid in the head – or at least picture it in his head – he saw a soldier in front of them saluting them.

"Colonel Mustang, sir"

Roy stood up frowned as well as Riza, "Yes?"

"Sir, the Fuhrer requires you presence at the Headquarters immediately"

_Oh no_. "Understood"

As the soldier walked away, Roy and Riza hurried to clean the mess on the table and the man grabbed Edward's hand and the four – Hayate following Riza – hurried to the Headquarters since they were not too far from there.

…………

Roy knocked at the door and opened it when he heard the Fuhrer's voice telling him to come in. He closed it behind him and walked approaching the man's desk and saluted him.

"Sir"

"Colonel Mustang, I'm glad they could find you", the man said drawing a smile, "I assume you can guess why are you here"

The raven-haired man lowered his arm and felt how his forehead was all sweat, "Yes sir"

"We're leaving tomorrow", he said as he stood up, "I have to know where you are planning on keeping the boy"

_Fuck_. "Sir, with all the respect, I would feel a lot better if I was the only one who knows where the kid is. Walls have ears"

Bradley smirked, "I see"

"And", Roy continued feeling how his hands were all sweated, "I would like to ask you to let me go as a Colonel. I will serve as State Alchemist if needed though"

The man stared at Mustang thoughtfully for a few seconds, "So you want to bring your crew I assume"

"Yes sir"

The Commander in Chief grabbed his jaw analyzing the look in Roy's eyes. The man really had guts, "Granted, Colonel"

He sighed discretely and saluted the man, "Sir"

"You're dismissed. Get ready to leave at first hour tomorrow"

The Colonel nodded and turned around to leave the office feeling uneasy. It had been _too_ easy, and the man's smile wasn't assuring at all. He hurried to the Headquarter entrance where Riza, Edward and Hayate were waiting for him, both with concerned gazes.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye, get ready to leave tomorrow and inform the rest of the crew", the man said frowned.

Riza's eyes widened, "Sir…"

"You heard me, we need to hurry", Roy insisted throwing her a look.

The woman then saluted the man, "Yes sir"

Edward saw how she turned around and left, Hayate at her side as always. He felt Roy grabbing his hand and pulling him to head to his house still frowned.

"Roy-San, what is going t-"

"You're going with me", the man interrupted him with his eyes still to his front, "Come on"

The blonde then didn't say another word and followed Roy uncertain of what he had on mind. It wasn't going to be easy_ at all_.

…………………….


	16. Unwanted Visitors

I'm sorry I haven't updated ; But here's one more chapter, hope you like it!

"**Unwanted visitors"**

The Colonel tapped his fingers at the frame of the window of the train. His onyx eyes were lost in the blurry landscape behind the glass, drowned in his owns thoughts. He could hear the quiet chattering of his crew at his side, but he wasn't in the mood to talk about something trivial. However, the man felt a pair of eyes fixed on him since the train started moving, but he was reluctant to meet Riza's gaze.

Roy noticed that they were near their destination; the train coach was becoming colder and colder and the landscape covered with grass was now decorated with white snow. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and decided to turn his head to Riza; she was in front of him of course.

She stared at him silently, but then the woman drew a warm smile, "Take it easy, Colonel"

The man sighed and nodded trying to smile her back, but he only managed to purse his lips, "Yeah". He tightened his jacket when he felt the North cold and glanced around. All the military personnel were feeling the cold too apparently.

"So, Sir", Havoc began snapping him out of his thoughts, "Armstrong's big sister is as beautiful as I have heard?"

Mustang smirked and closed his eyes, "I'm sure she's more beautiful than that"

The Lieutenant smiled satisfied by the answer, but Breda chuckled, "Don't get too excited, she's out of your league probably"

The blond glared at him, but Roy snorted, "She would slice you in two pieces if you dare to talk to her anyway"

Everyone stared at him in shock, but then he looked back to the window and remained quiet, but he couldn't hold back a smirk when he remembered how Olivia Armstrong almost killed him with her amazing eyes when he asked her out; the first two times.

He noticed two men walking through the corridor as they were looking for something. They both had the insignia of what he recognized belonged to the Security Guards of the Train Line, but their presence there was odd. It wasn't like the Military needed protection. Roy smiled mischievously; of course they weren't Security Guards, he was almost one hundred percent sure that they were looking for something specific, someone specific. But that someone wasn't there.

Riza smiled catching his attention and he nodded; it was like she could read his mind. Soon enough, the train began slowing down and he noticed the station half mile forward. From there, they would have to get in trucks to reach the Fort of Briggs.

"I hate cold", Breda complained as he put on his hood to protect his head from the wind, "I hate snow"

Fuery, in the other hand, drew a huge smile, "I love snow"

"Come on, guys, the truck won't wait for us forever", Riza suddenly commanded.

Everyone nodded and got in the vehicle – Breda quite happy that it was warm inside – and waited for one more hour until they could see the fort a mile away. Roy sighed getting more anxious every minute as he saw the Fort closer and closer. Finally, they got inside and got out of the trucks keeping their formations, but the Colonel signed his crew to follow him and so they did.

Roy smirked when he saw a stunning blond woman in front of him with a less than friendly smile on her face and her arms crossed with her own crew behind her and her brother at her side.

"Greetings, Major General, Sir", he said saluting her and then lowering his hand.

The woman just nodded, but then her face shifted into a dangerous grimace, "I don't get why the Fuhrer wanted you all to come, but since now you're here, the same rules apply to everyone"

Roy smiled, "Of course, we will have to earn our food and supplies"

"You remember, Colonel, I'm glad", the woman said smiling him back, "Follow my subordinates, they will show you where you can get settle down"

They did as told, the Colonel included; they had a lot to do before he could go back and talk to her. He smiled amused when he saw the guards of the train following them discretely, this was the confirmation to his suspicions.

"The Colonel was right, she's amazingly beautiful", Havoc muttered quite excited.

"Calm down, Havoc, the Colonel also said she would kill you if you dare to talk to her", Falman pointed out quietly which made Breda and Fuery chuckle.

The Lieutenant just rolled his eyes, "You'll see"

All the personnel became busy with the installations since there weren't enough dorms for everyone and they didn't know how long they would have to stay in that place. Roy ran a hand through his hair and glanced around.

"Take care of this, Hawkeye, I'll be back"

The woman flinched at the sudden order, but she saluted and nodded, "Of course, sir"

Mustang walked with his hands on his pockets until he found a hallway. Some men saluted him in his way and she smiled when he saw Olivia looking the newcomers in a balcony with her brother at her side.

"Shouldn't you be helping your men down there?", the woman asked before he could say anything.

The man smiled, "I'm sure they can handle it"

Olivia finally glanced at him, her arms still folded, "Of course"

Mustang's eyes looked up to Alex, "It's good to see you again, Major"

"The same", the man said nodding.

The woman turned around, her blond hair following her move gracefully, "Follow me"

Roy nodded and reached her to walk at her side, "I can see you're not thrilled by our visit"

Olivia threw him a look, but she smiled, "Not really since we have everything under control here", she said dropping her arms, "I don't understand why the Fuhrer wants to end this dispute so fast"

"Neither do I, Major General", he assured with his usual charming smile, "We just followed orders"

The woman smiled and both walked in silence through the huge hallway. Roy admired the hard work of her subordinates since there were a lot to do in that place if they wanted to live comfortable in such a cold place.

"Do you happen to know where I could get a cup of coffee?", the man asked her casually still looking around.

"You know coffee here is pretty expensive, Colonel", she answered crossing her arms, "My advice is to forget about it"

Roy lifted a brow, "You know I can't do that"

The Major General smiled again and stopped in front of a door. The man opened it and was surprised when he noticed they were in the woman's bedroom – the fancy decoration couldn't lie. He glanced at her, but she only nodded and the man hurried inside.

Sitting on the bed, there was a kid with a book in his hands. He was very wrapped up in clothes with a wool hat hiding most of his golden locks. The boy looked up at the man and dropped the book as he straightened up from the bed and hurried to approach him.

"Hey there", Roy greeting him falling on his knees and placing a hand on the kid's head, "How was the trip?"

"Armstrong-San spent most of the trip with his bare chest, but other than that it was fine", the kid assured with a funny smile, "How was yours?"

"Pretty uneventfully actually", Roy said standing on his feet, "I'm glad you could make it here without problems"

Edward nodded, "My name here is Alfons Heiderich, a relative from Olivia and Alex-San's mother", he said with a grin.

"Alfons?", Roy repeated with a brow cocked and a smirk, "Where have I heard that name before?"

The blonde shrugged, "I'm not creative with names, no harm intended"

"Anyway, I have to go back to the camp. Be a good kid or Olivia will get mad"

"I know", the boy assured with frightened eyes, "She's kind of scary. She threatened me with cutting my hair if I gave her problems"

Roy sweat dropped and patted the kid's head in empathy, "I'm sorry"

"Yeah…"

"I'll see you later then, continue your reading"

The man waved his hand and Ed did the same as he watched the man walk away from the room. Olivia threw him a look before she closed the door which gave him goose bumps, but he did as told and jumped on the bed to grab the book.

Roy sighed in relief and followed the Major General, a relaxed smile on his face, "Thank you for all this"

"You and Alex wouldn't have stopped bothering me if I didn't", she muttered folding her arms.

"Certainly we wouldn't"

"I still want to know what's the big deal with that boy is", she suddenly said shooting him a glare, "And it better be something good"

"Of course", he assured her with a chuckle. "First we need to talk about the situation here"

……………..

Edward yawned and glanced at the clock in the wall; it read 5:46. He dropped the book and stood by the window where he could see Roy and his men finishing setting up the camp. "Finally", he whispered as he closed the book and grabbed a hat to hide his hair. This was when the door opened and Olivia showed up with her usual gaze.

"Come with me"

The blond hurried to leave the room and the woman closed the door behind as she began to walk through the hallway followed by the kid. He glanced around adjusting his jacket since the Major General's bedroom was warmed that the rest of the place. They walked for almost 10 minutes in silence, Ed hurrying his step every now and then since he was afraid a piece of ice will fall onto his head. Finally, the woman opened a door and Edward got in when he saw Roy inside and stopped in front of the smiling man.

"About time", the kid groaned rolling his eyes.

The man smiled and glanced at Olivia, who only nodded and closed the door to leave the two alone. He took a seat and Ed did the same. "Everyone's treating you well?", the raven-haired began.

Ed nodded, "Yes. They know who I am, but it's awesome how loyal to Miss Armstrong they are"

"One of the most known qualities of Olivia's army", Roy assured him. "Now, we'll stick to the plan. Bradley's pawns are still around here"

The blonde narrowed his eyes, "Do I still have to sleep in that big room?"

Roy chuckled, "Olivia's that scary?". He saw how the kid threw him a look, "Alright, alright, we'll figure out that tonight"

Edward sighed and stroked a golden lock out of his face, "What'll happen if the Fuhrer's men don't buy the lie?"

Onyx eyes twitched and stared at those golden orbits for a few seconds before he could draw a smirk, "One step at the time, OK? For now, let's something before the Major General decides how we will earn our food"

The boy chuckled and both headed to the door, Edward fixing his had to hide most of his blonde hair.

"You should change the color of your eyes", Roy joked when he closed the door, "The Armstrong's family are all blue-eyed"

He twitched, "I could change my hair, but I'm not in hell touching my eyes",

"Take it easy, I was messing with you"

The blonde rolled his eyes and followed him, his arms crossed. "Whatever"

Both headed to what appeared to be some sort of meeting hall where Edward heard Olivia and Roy talking to each other while the entire crew listened attentive. He was sitting at the very back just listening while he read a book, taking a look to his surroundings every now and then. However, he couldn't help but smile behind the book hearing how Olivia always argued every order the Colonel commanded. It was quite funny to see him so .

An hour later, Roy approached him with a brow cocked and scratching his head, "I think I lost the count of how many times he humiliated me"

The blonde chuckled and watched how the man took a seat at his side, "So, what's the plan?"

"You'll stay here", he said without looking at him at the eyes, lost in his thoughts, "The drach men are just a mile away"

Ed just nodded resigned, "I see"

"We'll go to the battlefield in a half an hour; I hope we'll be back before the sun dies". He noticed how the boy stared a t him as he was looking for something in his face, "What?"

The kid flinched slightly, "It…You…Is it going to be bad?"

The raven-haired man blinked a few times before answering, "Come on, I'd told you several times that you shouldn't be worry about me, but for you"

Edward snorted and glanced back at his book. Mustang looked at him for a brief moment, but he decided to go without a word. He was sure the kid was mad, but he wasn't sure why and he didn't have time to try to get into his head. The boy closed the book and watched how the personnel became ready to go to the battlefield quietly, feeling a hole in his stomach. Why was he so scared? Was it because Roy would put his life in danger? Was it because he would leave him alone? He wasn't sure, but he couldn't help being mad.

When the tropes were ready to leave, he jumped from his seat and watched Roy approaching him as he adjusted his jacket. He hugged the book and frowned slightly.

"Well, we're going now. Take care, OK?", the man muttered patting the kid's head.

"Yeah, yeah. You do the same and come back in one piece"

Roy chuckled, "I promise. Be good"

The blonde's frown deepened as the Colonel turned around and joined his crew to shout some commands. Seconds later, they had disappeared through the door. He growled and headed to the door, but when he opened it, the boy almost jumped when he saw Olivia's right hand, Major Miles, was there arms crossed looking at the window. Ed debated whether to keep walking or say something, but the Major saved him from choosing an option.

"The Major General is with them, you shouldn't be worried", he said glancing at the blonde, "Besides, the Fuhrer overreacted with the entire situation. We had everything under control"

Edward stared at the window for a brief moment before he looked up at him, "That's what Roy-San said"

Miles smiled, "That's why I'm here, then"

"What?", Ed asked interested.

"The Major General asked me to stay here to keep an eye on you. She wouldn't do that if she didn't suspect something"

"What could possibly happen here? Someone would have to be crazy enough to dare to defy Olivia-San"

The man couldn't hold back a wide smile at the comment and turned around, "Come on, the doctor told me to take to down to check you automail"

Ed merely nodded and followed Miles hugging the book in his arms apprehensively; he was slightly cold. Both went downstairs quietly until the laboratory where a woman with a band on her head was already waiting for Edward, so the kid approached her and sat down as he began to take out his coat unwillingly.

"Do you want some hot chocolate?", the woman asked him kindly.

However, the blonde narrowed his eyes, "Are you going to charge me for that?"

"Of course not", she said pouring the chocolate, "I'm going to charge Colonel Mustang of course"

The boy almost chuckled, but he just smiled wickedly and grabbed the chocolate mug. He watched how Miles stood there at the door in silence with his eyes closed – or maybe not, he couldn't see through the sunglasses – as the woman proceeded to open the automail. He sighed and focused on drinking the chocolate, shifting his gaze to Miles once in a while. Was he human? He didn't move a finger for almost 40 minutes!

When the doctor secured de automail, he moved it to check that everything was in his place and apparently it was, "Thanks"

"I don't think the Colonel will be that grateful, but you're welcome", the woman said almost between laughs.

Edward jumped from his seat and approached Miles who had already moved – finally – to wait for him, "Where am I supposed to go now?"

"To the dining room", the man said opening the door, "Let's go"

He did as told and both headed to the cafeteria of the place, but that only meant a long, froze hall. His coat was tick enough, but still he could feel the cold; however, he wouldn't dare to say something since anyone else complained like ever. However, halfway where the place was empty, Miles stopped abruptly and he looked at him confused, but he noticed a man in front of them. A man with a hood and his hands on his coat, but he couldn't see his face.

"Who the hell are you?", Miles suddenly requested taking one step ahead the kid.

The man just raised a hand, his voice deeply disturbing, "Give me the child"

Edward suddenly flinched, his eyes widening. That voice…he knew that voice somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. However, it gave him gossegumps.

"How did you get in here?!", the Major shouted again holding a hand protectively in front of the boy.

The intruder remained silent, his face emotionless. In that moment, some women and men appeared behind him, all then with hoods hiding their faces, with one exception. One of the men had a hat and a coat and a creepy smile on his face.

"Major Kimbley, what are you doing here? You were supposed to be with the battalion", Miles almost growled.

The Crimson Alchemist's smile widened, "I changed my plans. I decided to throw a party around here with my mates". Miles body shifted suddenly and stood protectively in front of Edward who stared at the man in front of the group. "I wouldn't do that if you want to live, you know?"

"Back off, Kimbley", Miles warned him with a hand over his gun.

The Major almost laughed, "Are you treating me? Come on, be serious and give us the child"

"What the hell are you talking about?", Miles growled clutching his hand around the gun, ready to use it if needed.

"This is the last time I'm telling you", Kimbley said, his voice suddenly deeper and more threatening.

However, the blonde wasn't looking at him, but to one of the men with the hoods. When he noticed the boy's eyes staring at him, the intruder smiled; that was all Ed needed to recognize him. "Tucker", he whispered and then glanced at Kimbley, "…Are you…a member of the Alchemist Union?"

The Major's eyes widened when the Crimson Alchemst laughed hysterically. How could he in the Military being a member of the Alchemist Union? A State Alchemist?! Miles then grabbed the gun and aimed it at the man who seemed to be the leader. However, Kimbley took a step ahead.

"Well, you asked for it"

As Kimbley ran towards Miles, Edward reacted in time to grab him from the arm and pulled him with all his strength, "Run for it! Don't face him!"

Miles twitched and glanced at the scared boy, but since he didn't know what the Crimson Alchemist was capable of, he decided to do as told. He grabbed the boy and ran as fast as he could hearing the laugh of the man behind him.

…………….


	17. The Transmutation

"**The Transmutation"**

Havoc growled again for the tenth time that day. Roy glared at him annoyed, but the Lieutenant could care less for that: He _hated_ snow. He couldn't walk properly, he was freezing and the mission hadn't even begun at that point. They had left the fort just two hours ago, but he didn't care, he wanted go to back and now.

"I'll personally push you in the snow if you complain again, Havoc", Breda threatened him suddenly.

Jean shivered and threw the man a glare, "I can't help it, it's just too cold!"

Falman sighed, "You're such a little girl"

"Hey! Take that back!"

Roy almost chuckled, but though it better and remained quiet. He glanced back at the fort which at this point was just a dark figure far away, but he couldn't think in anything else. He knew Edward was safe, but still something had him feeling uneasy and he just couldn't figure out what; still his instincts rarely failed him. However, talk to Olivia was out of the question since she would kill him for doubting about her fort.

The man sighed noticing his frozen breath, but then he saw Riza at his side looking at him out of the corner.

"Something's wrong?"

The woman looked ahead, but her brows frowned deeply, "I think you should've stayed with Edward-Kun too"

Roy stared at her for a brief moment, but then he looked away, "You know what would happen if the Military found that I left you go without me"

"I know", she assured him, "But that's a risk we all would have agreed to take"

The raven-haired man couldn't hold back a smile. He didn't deserve this kind of loyalty, but still he appreciated it, "Well, what's done is done anyway"

The First Lieutenant drew a tiny smile too, "The Major General doesn't look pleased with our company"

"She thinks the Military is overreacting about the whole thing. She's sure they can handle it without us"

"I see". Riza then glanced around sweat dropping when she saw Breda and Havoc yelling at each other for something irrelevant surely. Those couldn't just behave…

But then, something became notorious. Her eyes moved around quickly trying to confirm it before she said anything, but the panic took over her.

"Sir, where's Kimbley?"

"What?", Roy looked for the man in the position he was sure he had seen him while ago, but his heart raced when he couldn't find him anywhere, "Oh no"

In that moment, he turned around began to run in the opposite direction followed by Riza, but his crew didn't react immediately, they just stared at them confused. Finally, they decided to follow the Colonel leaving a Major General Armstrong screaming at them behind.

……………….

Edward took a deep breath. And then another one. He closed his eyes trying to focus his mind in the noise outside since it had been too quiet for a few minutes. Miles had locked him inside a cabinet and he had heard explosions, screams and guns since them, but he was so afraid to go out. The blonde put his arms around his legs and blinked in the darkness, he was feeling a hole in his chest and it wouldn't be too long before he decided to get out of there. He hated the dark.

One more scream and the blonde flinched. His eyes widened in fear, but mostly in guiltiness; they were killing people because of him. He couldn't hide and wait until they killed everyone, but still, he was scared.

How had they found him? Roy took all the precautions and the military were oblivious to the fact that he was in that place, so how could they have known? He heard some gunshots and instinctively hid his head between his arms. What should he do? What should he do?

With his shaking hand, he pushed the door of the furniture slightly to take a look. Nothing. Apparently they hadn't looked for him in that place yet. What should he do? Stay there and wait until they kill each other and don't waste their sacrifice? Go out so they stop hurting innocent people?

Ed pushed the door just a little more and took out his head. No one was there. He then stood up and hurried to the frame of the door; he could feel his heart fighting to get out of his chest, but he tried to take a deep breath and relax. Panicking wasn't an option now that he was out.

He hurried through the corridor hearing just the echo of his footsteps, ready to use alchemy if needed. For a few minutes, the kid ran in empty halls becoming anxious at the lack of noise, this couldn't be good.

The blonde stopped at one corner and took a peek. Nothing. For half an hour that seemed an eternity he looked for someone, but he didn't find anyone, not even bodies. He gulped. What should he do?

"Are you looking for someone in particular?"

Ed jumped and turned around just to see Kimbley leaned on the wall, his arms crossed and a wide smirk on his face.

"I've been following you, but I got bored already"

The blonde just stood there frozen watching how the man began to approach him threateningly, but his legs didn't respond to his head screaming, "S-Stay away", he managed to say frowning.

Kimbley laughed, "Oh, what are you going to do? Punch me?"

Edward gritted his teeth and got ready since the man had launched towards him. He moved quickly to avoid the Crimson Alchemist's hand and tried to punch him with his automail hand; however, Kimbley was fast to grab his arm.

"You little bastard, did you really think you could fight against me?"

The boy struggled against the man's hand, but his efforts were useless, "Let go!"

The alchemist pulled the kid and dragged him through the hall smirking at the struggle of the blonde to slip away.

"Stop it already. We've lost precious time looking for you"

"And you will lose more"

Ed managed to clap his hands and transmuted his automail into a blade to cut him on the shoulder. Kimbley growled and let the boy's arm go to put his hand on the injury.

"What the hell?!"

Unable to breath, the blonde clapped his hands again and created a wall in front of him so he had a chance to run away. When he turned in the corner of the corridor, he heard an explosion; Kimbley was after him already. In his desperation, he reached a wall, clapped his hands and, when he was about to touch it to create a hole, he felt how a leg kicked him in the stomach and sent him a few feet away. He gasped for air, but when he saw the man approaching him again, he tried to get up unsuccessfully.

"You're brave, I give you that", Kimbley murmured with his smile still stuck on his face.

"And I give you this"

Ed's eyes widened when Miles punched Kimbley in the face when he turned around. The Major then grabbed the blonde and hurried through the corridor until they hit a camouflaged door which Miles opened and closed it when they got in.

The man fell on his knees and grabbed the kid's shoulders, "Are you alright?!", he said almost shaking him, "Edward?!"

"I-I'm Ok, Major", the blonde finally said catching his breath.

Miles then stood up and signed Ed to follow him, "Come on, he'll find us soon"

The blonde nodded and did as told, "Where's everybody?"

"Hidding, trying to confuse the intruders. We have protocols for this situation"

Edward raised a brow, but he kept quiet. Should he have stayed hidden then? He bit his lip and followed the man through the dark hall, not sure where they were heading to. For a few minutes, both ran in silence, but the uncertainty was eating him alive.

"Where are we going?"

Miles didn't answer right away, instead, he waited a few seconds before he said something, "Where everyone is hiding of course"

However, the man stopped abruptly and Ed did the same when he saw a woman standing in front of them. A woman Edward knew very well.

"Dr. Lyra?"

She smiled widely, "We meet again, boy"

Edward blinked a few times dumbfounded, "Wha…What are you doing here?"

Lyra took a step ahead, but Miles stood in front of the kid and got ready to shot if necessary, so she stopped, "I know, I should be in jail, shouldn't I? Those idiots really thought they could hold me in that pathetic place". The woman began to walk towards Ed again, so Miles aimed the gun, "Don't be stupid, you won't harm me with that"

"Edward, who is she?", the man asked him with his eyes fixed on her.

"She", the kid began, "She was one of the scientists in the laboratory I was imprisoned"

The woman smiled, "I'm not just a 'scientist'. In fact, I'm not even a doctor"

"Who the hell are you then?", Miles insisted holding the hand with both hands now.

Lyra face frowned, she raised his hand and Edward saw how she created a wind torrent to push Miles away until he crashed against the wall. "Nuisance"

The blonde stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, but when he tried to approach the Major, Kimbley was already blocking him. "Game over, little bastard"

Ed glanced around and saw all the intruders walking towards him, so he just stood there frowning his brows at Lyra.

"Don't look me like that, we didn't kill that many of your friends", she said with a wide smile.

"You were a member of the Alchemist Union the entire time, weren't you?", the kid hissed, but he backed up when the woman laughed.

"A member? Of course not. The Alchemist Union is_ mine_"

Edward bit his lip. The boy's eyes moved fast checking his options, but the situation didn't look good at all, "What the hell you want with me?"

Lyra then began to walk toward him again, "You know who your father was, don't you?"

His father? What did he have to do with all this? He frowned deeply.

"Your father created the last philosopher stone known", the woman continued now stopping in front of Edward, "But I helped him".

Ed growled, "I don't get why that is important"

"Because, my little friend, thanks to that stone I've lived 400 years. But my part of the stone is dying"

…He didn't like where the conversation was heading, "So you're going to die", he said coldly.

Lyra then smiled again, "Unless I can get another one, brand new if you like".

"I don't have the stone if that what you are thinking", the kid said raising a brow.

"Of course you don't"

One of the men gave Lyra a book and she quickly ran through the pages, "Your father ran away with the major part of the stone that idiot, so I couldn't find it. The little piece of it that I could kept wasn't enough to do something else than to let me live longer than a normal human When someone told me he had died, I thought my hopes on finding the stone were gone with him"

The blonde flinched when he noticed how some of the intruders were drawing something in the floor, but Lyra approached him and he looked up at her again.

"But then, I found about you. Somehow Hohenheim power was transferred to you, I don't know if he did it or what", she said finally stopping at one page, "I sent for you, but your lovely neighbors wouldn't tell us who was Hohenheim's child, so we destroyed the village looking for you"

Ed gritted his teeth, but he remained quiet. It wasn't like he hadn't thought of it before and the idea had haunted him long enough now.

"So, when I knew they had gotten you, I turned myself into a doctor to see if it was really you", she continued, her eyes stuck on the book, "However, when I saw you power, I'll be honest, I thought it twice. You couldn't control it and I didn't know how, so I would risk my life if I decided to do something. I couldn't let the Military put a hand on you thought"

"What are you doing?", the blonde interrupted her when he saw the chalks on the men hands.

"But we decided to give Roy a try with you and, amazingly enough, he did wonders with you", she finished with the most evil smile Edward had seen in his life.

It was when the blonde recognized the transmutation circle under him. It was the circle he had seen in his dreams, the circle drawn in Roy's book. His eyes widened in shock and fell back, "No"

"Yes, I guess you know what this circle will do to you", she said closing the book, "Now that you can control your power, I'm sure everything will go smoothly"

Edward straightened up and tried to run, but two men grabbed him and put him against the floor, "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!!"

Lyra then dropped the book and clapped her hands, "This circle will let me suck you power and I will use another one to transform that energy into a stone. Don't worry, it will be quick"

"NO! STOP IT! STOP IT!", the boy cried using all his strength to fight the two men, but it was useless; he couldn't move an inch, "STOP IT!!"

But the woman touched the circle. Edward saw frightened how the transmutation began expulsing a huge load of energy until it the circle fully activated. The two men finally freed him, but when he wanted to get out of the circle, the energy sent him to the core of the transmutation.

Lyra laughed at him, "Don't worry, it will end soon"

Ed stared at her with wide eyes, unable to do anything. That dream came to his head again and he almost chocked at the thought of what was coming for him. He'd die. No, worst that than. He would be an empty shell just waiting to die. A pathetic existence. Then, something hit him…what about Roy? All his efforts to maintain him alive? All the time wasted?

_What about making him suffer?_

A tear ran Edward's cheek. He closed his eyes and it was when he began to feel the transmutation doing something to him. Sucking his life away. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth at the sudden pain taking over him; he would not scream. He would not give her the pleasure. His legs gave up and fell on his knees, his body shaking violently.

He looked up to see Lyra with her hands raised like she was gathering something between them, but all he could see was a small white light. She still didn't have anything. His brows frowned and used all his strength to get up trying to draw a dirty smirk. Well, she said the transmutation was safe because he could control his power, what if he let it go on purpose? Expel all his energy. It would not save him, on the contrary, it would probably kill him and all the presents, but that was by far better than to live like doll. He really wished he could have said good bye to Roy at least, but this was the only option he had.

The blonde closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain for a second. Lyra eyes snapped open when she noticed the change in the flow of the transmutation since it became erratic.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

He smirked, "What do you think I'm doing?"

The woman tried to move to approach the kid, but the energy of the transmutation didn't let her do anything. She could only see with wide eyes how the boy increased the power of the transmutation more and more at the point where some of her men and woman became scared and ran.

"STOP IT YOU BASTARD! YOU WILL KILL US!"

Edward ignored her and became fully concentrated. Well, at least nobody would try to use him again, whatever she meant with her story and his heritage. And, of course, Roy would be able to go back to his life. Would he remember him in a few years? The blonde bit his lip and hold back a whimper, he still had job to do since the transmutation wasn't big enough yet.

However, something went terribly wrong with his plan. Something unexpected happened when he looked at his right and noticed a pair of dark eyes staring in shock at him. His eyes widened at the sight of Roy frozen. _This could not be happening._

"EDWARD!!!!!!"


	18. The Flame's Lament

"**The Flame's Lament"**

"Major General Armstrong is going to kill us", Fuery said as the five got into the fort leaving the snow behind. Breda and Falman gave him a nervous look since they were sure of that too.

However, they followed Roy who was running like never before through the hall. Around them, everything was destroyed; furniture, papers, doors, everything. Roy didn't think it twice, and began to destroy any obstacle in his way feeling how the desperation was eating him alive. He had been such a fool, but how can be this possible? Not even Kimbley would have known that boy was Edward, someone else identified him. _Damn it!_

If they were attacked, that could only mean that everyone went to the basement of the fort. Edward should be there, he _should_ be. Roy ran was fast as he could hearing the echo of his owns footsteps and his crew's.

However, when he opened the access to the basement, the wind coming from inside made him feel even more anxious. He hurried downstairs until a shining light forced him and his crew to use their arms to cover their eyes.

"What is this?!", Havoc yelled fighting the force of the wind trying to push them back.

Riza almost fell back, but Falman helped her, "Nothing good for sure!"

Roy did his best to reach the source of the light, but when he saw unknown people running, he began to look everywhere trying to find the reason. His heart nearly stopped when he saw Edward in the middle what it seem to be a transmutation array with…Dr. Lyra? In front of him.

"Edward…", he said in low voice. But golden eyes met his and this widened in shock and he reacted finally, "EDWARD!!!!!!!"

The man tried to identify the transmutation array to see how he could stop it, but he didn't remember seeing it anywhere. He glanced around in the chaos and saw Kimbley watching everything with his arms crossed and a wide smile on his face. Roy hurried toward him and grabbed him from the collar taking the man by surprise.

"You son of a bitch, what the hell is this?!"

"You should be doing something to stop the transmutation or you could say good bye to him already", Kimbley told him almost bursting in laughs.

Roy's eyes widened and let the man go, trying to approach Edward, but the energy was too strong.

"EDWARD!!!"

The blonde bit his lip and heard the laughs of Lyra at his side. Of course he would not continue with his plan, not when Roy and his crew were there and she knew it. Ed tried to approach Roy, but a wall of energy didn't allow him to reach the man's hand.

"Edward, stop this!! Stop it!!", the Colonel yelled in exasperation.

The kid stared at the man feeling how the tears began to fall through his cheeks. He shook his head, "I can't!". His eyes suddenly widened and he fell on his knees clenching his fists in the floor, clearly in pain.

"EDWARD NO!!", the man then glared at the woman and tried approached her, "You better stop this if you don't want me to kill you once you get out of there!"

Lyra smirked, "Don't be mad, my Colonel. Once the transmutation ends, you won't be able to touch me at all"

All of the sudden, he heard a growl behind him and turned around to see his crew pointing their guns to some of the intruders ready to attack them using alchemy.

"MOVE!", he ordered as he snapped his fingers attacking the members of the Alchemist Union leaving them unconscious.

Riza then approached him folding his gun, "What can we do sir?!"

"I", he began, but the sight of Edward trying to hold back a scream was driving him crazy, "I don't know"

Havoc threw a small rock to the transmutation, but it disappeared, "Can't you stop it with your fire?!"

"I could hurt Edward", Roy eyes moved faster trying to find a hint of what he should do, "I can't take that risk"

"R-Roy-San!"

Everyone glanced at Edward who was in the same position, but he did his best to look up. Roy's heart squeezed noticing how much he was suffering.

"S-stop the tr-transmutation. She m-must not get what she wants!"

However, Lyra approached him and kicked him in the stomach so he would fell in the floor, "Shut up you little bastard"

Roy's face frowned and gritted his teeth in fury. However, the man saw confused how something began to take shape in the woman's hands, something small but full of energy. In the other hand, Edward was loosing consciousness, so he had to make a decision and quick.

"Move back!", the man ordered and raised his shaking hand. This was the only way he could think of to save the boy, even when the risk was too high. His crew did as told, and his face frowned deeply. And then, he snapped his fingers.

A big explosion of energy threw everyone against the wall, but Roy could hold still protecting his face with his arms. The transmutation had died and the remaining mist covered the entire place. He coughed and stood up trying to see through, but it was too dense so he headed to where he thought Edward should be. Golden hair stood out in the blurriness and Roy quickly fell on his knees and grabbed the unconscious kid. He was breathing, he wasn't bleeding, just small cuts, nothing to worry about. The raven-haired man sighed in relief and held him closer.

"I'm so sorry", he muttered hugging the kid apprehensively.

However, a shadow appeared at his side and he stood up carrying the boy. It was Lyra who had a smile on his face and a fist clenched holding something. "Yes, Colonel, he is alive. I never intended to kill him", she said using a suggestive voice, "Nevertheless, he will never wake up"

Dark eyes widened, "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"The transmutation sucked the power inside that kid, _all of it_. He will live, but jus that", she said with a small laugh, "In exchange, now I have the philosopher stone"

Roy blinked a few times, the voice of the woman echoing on his head; he didn't give credit to what he heard. The_ philosopher_ stone? That has the source of the power of Edward? That was what she had on his hand?

"You can give him my thanks", she continued raising her hand, "He gave his life in exchange so I could bring back his father"

Roy gritted his teeth and freed one of his hands ready to snap his fingers.

Lyra smile widened, "I would not do that. If you destroy the stone, Edward will die with it. Don't worry, bringing someone back from the death it's nothing for such a big stone like this one, so it will never disappear", she said walking around Roy, "So, you can have that doll for the rest of your life"

"You bitch, how could you do something like this to a little kid?!"

"The stone was Hohenheim's and mine in the first place", her smile faded, "Even when he left me for that woman, I know he always loved me. I'm the only one who could have figure out how to obtain the stone from his son, of course he wants me to bring him back"

"I'm sure your stupid followers know about your plans", he said bitterly.

Lyra crossed her arms, "Of course I will do something for them. Just what not they are expecting"

Millions of thoughts crossed Roy's mind. If what she said was true, he had to get that stone, but his crew was unconscious and he wouldn't risk leaving Edward alone. Never more.

"Of course I knew you were using us as peons"

The sudden voice caught both attention. It was Kimbley, walking towards Lyra with an unfriendly gaze. The woman raised her hand threateningly.

"Don't do it, Kimbley. You can't do anything against me"

However, Mustang noticed how the eyes of the woman widened in shock and panicked staring at the stone.

"Wha-what?!", she cried, "Why is it not crimson red?!"

The Colonel flinched. It was true, the stone was dull, almost black, not like the pictures he had seen of it where it was bright red and shinning.

Kimbley then stopped a few feet away and grabbed one of his supposed to be mates, "Maybe I can"

"NO!!"

Roy turned around to protect Edward from the explosion, but quickly looked back to see Lyra through the smoke in the floor; and the stone a few inches away from her. He hurried toward it, but Kimbley appeared much closer than him so he snapped his fingers. The Colonel heard a growl of pain and ran to grab the stone since Lyra was already trying to reach it dragging herself across the floor. However, he stopped when Riza took it pointing the woman with her gun.

The man smiled at her, and he noticed how his crew was handcuffing some of the intruders. It was when they heard steps approaching; a furious Major General and her subordinates finally appeared. The man threw her a look, so she just ordered everyone to gather the intruders and approached him staring at the boy.

"You didn't make it on time", the woman said stating the obvious, but also accusatorily.

Roy just closed his eyes and walked away signaling Riza to follow him. He had to get out of there or the sight of the screaming Lyra will make him lose him mind and do something he should not do. His eyes now rested in Edward. Anybody would say he was sleeping since his face was totally relaxed and breathing quietly, not as a 'living doll' as the woman said. Both remained silent until they got in Roy's bedroom and Riza closed the door behind her.

The man laid down the kid softly in the bed and stood there staring at him absently. Riza could see the pain on the man's face, his hands clenched into fists and shaking, not in fury, but in desperation. She bit her lip and decided to leave him alone, but when she was about to turn around, Roy looked up at her.

"Don't go, please", he begged like he never had before, "I can't break down, I need to find a solution to this"

She nodded sadly and raised her hand where she had the stone. Roy stared at it for a moment before grabbing it to examine the damn thing. So, this was the cause of Edward problems. Those years in the laboratory, the pain, the fear to use his alchemy when he should be showing the world what he could to at his age. That was reason he hadn't been a normal and happy kid.

He fell on his knees and hit the floor with one hand. He had failed him. Just like that. Now he wasn't sure if he would be able to help him since this knowledge was beyond him. The only option was to make that woman reverse the transmutation, but in hell he would trust her. Riza then kneeled at his side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know you will find the answer, you always do", she said softly grabbing the stone.

The man head was hid between his shoulders, but still he shook his head, "I don't know this time. I don't know where to start looking for an answer". He then looked up and stared at Edward trying to hold still and don't break down, "I can't stand looking at him like that. I want him back"

"That's why", she continued, "I'm sure you will find the answer"

Roy glanced at her with a tiny smile, but the woman could see the pain on the man's eyes. This was killing him and this time she couldn't do anything more than be there for him.

"We have to go home, I have to look through my books to see what I can do for him", the man said running a hand through his ebony hair.

The door swung open in that moment and both stood up protecting the child, but Olivia was at the frame of the door, her face far from happy. Riza hid the stone discretely.

"I will find out what happened", the woman said flatly, "For now, you should take him away from here"

Roy nodded and quickly lifted the boy hurrying outside the room.

…………………..

"Sir!"

The Fuhrer looked up and saw L. General Raven with wide eyes closing the door behind him. The man laid down the folder he had been reading and frowned, "This better be good"

"Yes sir", the man said stopping in front of the desk, "Sir, our spies sent this information"

Bradley grabbed the sheet and read it fast. Raven got nervous when the man's face twisted in fury and stood up.

"Where are they now?!"

The L. Colonel gulped, "They don't know sir"

"Great, just great", the man snarled snapping the sheet against the desk, "They said Roy left the kid here!"

The man closed his mouth and just stared at the Fuhrer who had a hand on his forehead analyzing the situation.

"They have the stone, don't they?"

"Our spies couldn't confirm that sir, but we are afraid so", the man explained almost shaking.

"Find them! Now! We must know where are they!"

"Y-yes sir!"

Raven turned around and left the office as fast as he could afraid the man would stop him. Bradley clenched his fist around the document and threw it to the trash can, he then snapped his hand against the desk in fury. Mustang had played his cards well this time, he was indeed impressed. But he would pay for this and he would get that stone no matter what.

……………………

Riza opened the door and turned on the lights of the hotel room. She stepped inside carefully holding her gun ready to shoot if necessary. Behind her, Roy followed her carrying the boy in his arms, scanning the room too. He approached the bed and laid down the still unconscious kid. Riza closed the door and stood there with her gun raised while the Colonel took a look to the balcony.

The woman then lowered the weapon and watched Roy as he dialed up some numbers and waited until someone answered.

"_Hi there_", a known voice said quietly, "_Everything's Ok?"_

Roy sat in the bed next to Edward, "Seems so, Hughes. How's the situation over there?"

"_Well_", the man began, his voice deep, "_They did a mess in your house, everything is upside down_"

"Great", Mustang growled, "Did you find the book?"

A brief silence. Roy knew bad news were coming, "_No. It wasn't anywhere, Roy. If they found it, they could prosecute your only for having it_"

The man tapped his fingers on the bureau for a moment. Damn it, he had forgotten about that book until he saw the array which left Edward like this. In the train, he remembered seeing it on that book or at least one similar. "That's Ok, Hughes. Get out of there before they notice you"

"_Want me to drop a visit over there?_"

"No, tomorrow will be fine. I want to rest for now"

"_Alright, don't hesitate to call_"

"Thanks, Hughes"

He hung up and glanced at the woman who was staring at Edward sad, "He didn't deserve this", she said quietly.

"Go home", the man ordered her, "Have some rest"

The Lieutenant nodded, "Yes sir. See you tomorrow"

Roy just watched how the woman turned around and left the room, so he stood up and secured the door. He turned off the lights of the room leaving the table lamp on, which made the boy's golden hair almost glow. The man leaned on the wall and stared at him for a long time, his mind blank. He didn't want to think on anything, he was exhausted, but also, scared. If he couldn't come up with an answer, Edward would stay like that for the rest of his life and that scared him.

The kid was so quiet, sleeping like a little angel. Just that he wasn't sleeping. The man sat on the bed at the kid side and sighed. He was really exhausted, the trip back Central had been so intense, hiding the boy, the array spinning on his head, the scared face of the kid inside the transmutation…Damn, he wouldn't be able to sleep and he really wanted to. He needed to.

Roy turned on the TV hoping something would catch his attention and let his mind rest, but he gave up after a few minutes. He let it on, but he laid down in the bed and stared at the ceiling roof for what he felt hours. Then, the man glanced at Edward, the memory of the blonde holding his scream tormenting him.

Why haven't he been able to protect him? What else could have he done so this wouldn't have happened? He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath; that wasn't important anymore, he had to think how he would bring back Edward, because he would do it no matter what.

Then, Roy noticed something. The kid was screwing his eyes shut and moving slightly, so he jumped from the bed and waited expectantly. Maybe the transmutation wasn't complete when he stopped it and that was the reason the stone wasn't either. Maybe Edward just needed to rest to get back the energy lost. Maybe.

However, the man almost fell on his knees when he saw how the blonde sat up and opened his eyes. His usual golden almost shinning eyes, were now dull and lifeless, just a blank stare. The kid glanced at the man, but there wasn't any reaction at all, he just blinked and looked away.

This was Lyra meant with 'living doll'? Edward would live but close to be…_empty_? Roy covered his mouth with a hand in shock and leaned on the wall until he crashed in the floor. This couldn't be happening, it was just too much. No. It couldn't be. Ed was there somewhere, he couldn't be gone. The man approached the kid in desperation and grabbed him from the shoulder shaking him.

"EDWARD! COME BACK YOU DAMN MIDGET! I'M ORDERING YOU TO COME BACK!"

He was panting still holding him, but the kid didn't show any reaction beside a blank stare. Just nothing. It was when Roy lost it. He let the boy laid down on the bed and sat in the floor and closed his eyes. However, the kid sat up again and remained in the same positions for few minutes, just blinking. The man sighed and leaned his head back in the wall and screwed his eyes shut; he needed to concentrate. What should be the next step? Torture Lyra until she says something useful? He would gladly do that only if he wasn't supposed to be at Central right now.

Suddenly, the man flinched and snapped his eyes open when he felt someone at his side. He looked down and saw the blond sitting next to him staring at him with his big eyes, like he was curious. What did this mean? Maybe he had been right, maybe the fact that the transmutation wasn't complete did something on Edward at least. Still, those empty eyes were tormenting him like hell.

Ed stared at him emotionless, but Roy smiled warmly and put his arm around him drawing him closer. The boy just rested his head on him and closed his eyes, falling sleep immediately. The man undid Ed's braid and stroked his hair for what it seemed hours. He really missed _his_ boy.

And he would do anything to get him back. This was far from over.


	19. Hope

I'm very sorry that I hadn't updated since…well, forever. I have no excuse. But I'm back :D. This chapter was beta-tested by **Calamus **(Thanks again!).

"**Hope"**

Lyra almost jumped out of her bed. A blonde man had opened the door of the room in which she was locked in and closed it once he was inside. She sat up in the bed and watched as the man grabbed a chair and dragged it until it was in front of her.

Those dark eyes stared at her for a brief moment before he sat down but, before he could say anything, Lyra smiled maliciously.

"I had the feeling you'd be coming any day now" she said hurriedly.

The man smirked, "Of course I would."

"I'm surprised that they didn't recognize you though," Lyra added, "Your disguise is pretty bad."

"I beg to disagree." The man pulled on his blonde hair, revealing a wig and the black hair underneath, "I think my performance was very convincing."

The woman almost laughed, but instead shook her head and averted her eyes.

Roy, on the other hand, frowned and threw the blonde wig at her. "You're going to tell me how to bring Edward back."

"I got nothing to tell you, _Colonel_. Nothing you don't know already."

Mustang gritted his teeth, but he tried to calm down and sighed. The anger inside him was burning like never before, almost at the point where he was unable to control his emotions. "You're going to tell me everything, you hear me? Everything."

Lyra smiled, but she remained quiet. The woman could see the threat on the man's eyes and she'd better not try to fool him or the Colonel would do whatever it took. _Whatever_.

"Tell me about the array." Roy began leaning back in his chair.

"You should have let me kill him." The woman growled closing her eyes. They snapped open when Roy grabbed her by the collar.

"I don't care that you're woman, so don't test my patience," he hissed, throwing her back.

Lyra clenched her fist, but the look in the man's eyes frightened her. "Fine." She finally said looking away and folding her arms, "I found the array in an old book as a hypothesis, never tested before. I found it in the Military's secret archives, actually."

Mustang raised a brow. Inside the Military's archives? So that was the reason he found the array so familiar. "How did you find something like that?"

A smile danced in the woman's lips, "Kimbley found it."

_Kimbley._ Of course. "And still you thought of betraying him. You must be stupid."

"That's none of your business, Colonel."

Roy smiled back at her and glanced at the window, the only source of light at the moment. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You were willing to kill a little boy for your own desires."

Lyra narrowed her eyes and drew closer to the man, "For the record, even when I wanted the boy to fulfill my own wishes, I was doing this country a favor."

The Colonel's eyes twitched, but he managed to remain calm. "Enlighten me please."

"When I found out he was Hohenheim's son and somehow had the power of the stone, I wanted it of course. Not only for my personal desires, but also because if that power happened to fall in the wrongs hands, it would be dangerous for everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean _everyone_" she remarked.

However, Roy threw a sarcastic laugh, "Of course."

"You can choose not to believe me, but it doesn't change the facts," she continued undisturbed. "However, as you should know already, my men failed to bring me the boy and he fell into Military hands. That was when I decided to play my part as a scientist so I would be close to him."

"That's where you witnessed what he could do, didn't you?" Roy asked bitterly, which made the woman smile.

"Of course, it was amazing," her eyes shone in excitement. "That was when I began researching how to extract that power from him and Kimbley found that array."

Roy's fist clenched. However, it wasn't the time to lose it. "Why didn't you try to do this before then?"

"Honestly? Because I got scared," she said as she was mocking her own cowardice. "He couldn't control his alchemy and I wasn't certain I could. The transmutation could have gone wrong and killed us both. I though about killing him again since I knew the Military knew more about him than they should but, then, you showed up in the scene."

The Colonel stared at Lyra's eyes emotionlessly. If he had known all this at that moment….

"When my men got me out of jail, I researched you. The great Flame Alchemist, one of the best State Alchemists ever, Hero of War, attached to the kid and willing to train him to control his alchemy. Even when I ordered one of my men – Tucker if you remember – to kill him, I decided I would give him the chance."

"I should kill you, right now."

Lyra winced at the evident anger in the man's eyes. "But then you'd have nothing. You'd have to start from zero again,"

"Don't test your luck, woman," he hissed, narrowing his eyes. "Now, tell me what I want to know."

"How to bring him back?" Lyra said, bored. "Of course I don't know how to do it. I never thought of it. Why would I want to bring him back?"

Roy threw her a look, "You don't know."

"I don't know" she repeated. "I have no reason to lie to you now that I know you won't allow me to lay a finger on that stone ever again."

The Colonel clicked his tongue, "I'm guessing you're quite frustrated since you weren't able to complete it."

Lyra's eyes snapped open and wide, "Hold it right there. I didn't make a mistake if that's what you're thinking; not even your foolish attempt to stop me has anything to do with this. If I had succeeded, the stone would have just disappeared. "

"As far I know, the Philosopher Stone was shining crimson, not dull red" Roy said sarcastically, with a smile dancing on his lips.

"I'm telling you, I didn't make a mistake _during_ the transmutation," she assured him quite offended by the insinuation. "My guess is that Hoheheim did something so if anyone found about his son, that person would never get the stone."

"That's kind of obvious at this point." Roy stated leaning back on his chair again. He was pretty sure this was going nowhere since she seemed as confused as he was.

Lyra's eyes finally began to show the desperation she was feeling. "I'm sure he was confident I would find the answer."

The Colonel snorted, which made Lyra flinch. "Yeah, sure."

"Well," she continued, "in short, I don't know how to bring your little precious boy back."

Roy narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a moment, watching how she smiled maliciously. She was telling the damn truth. "The secret files you found," he began again, "were they in a book with a black leather cover?"

Lyra's eyes twitched. "So you know about it."

The Colonel stood up and kicked away the chair as he headed to the door.

"It's impossible, Colonel," Lyra told him when he was about to leave the room, making him stop.

"I thought it was impossible to suck someone's life away," he glared at her. "Excuse me for hoping I can undo what you did."

"The Military will get that stone if you are not careful enough. I tried to avoid it, let's see if you can." She smirked as she warned him. "I won't be held here much longer, and then I'll find you. That stone will be _mine_."

"Come on, do you think your 'union' will do anything to get you out of here after what you did to them?" Roy almost laughed. "I would be more worried about Kimbley. He'll probably try to kill you."

"I don't care about that." She hissed suddenly, clenching her fists. "I need to get that stone no matter what. I want Hoheheim back with me."

Roy threw her a cold stare. "Are you really that stupid to risk everything for a man that probably didn't love you as much you think he did?"

"HE LOVED ME!" She cried. "OF COURSE HE LOVED ME!"

"He had a son with another woman." He knew he shouldn't be provoking her, but she deserved it. She deserved even more than this. "Call me skeptical."

The Colonel saw how she fell on her knees and tears began to run down her cheeks. "He loved me. We planned our life together and I will bring him back to me." She looked up, her brows deeply frowned. "So don't get attached to that stone."

Roy threw her a look over his shoulder, but he just left the room and closed the door behind him.

…………

Riza glanced at the window when she noticed a Taxi arriving at the hotel. Roy had been gone for almost 4 hours and she was getting worried; he should have been back already. But the person coming out of the car wasn't Roy. She sighed and leaned back in the chair, still staring at the window. The fact that she couldn't know if Roy's disguise failed and he had been captured was getting on her nerves.

However, the sight of Edward sleeping reminded her that she had another person to protect at the moment and she had to be as alert as she could. The kid had been sleeping since she got there and, apparently, he had no intention of waking up soon. Riza turned toward him and watched the blonde snore quietly, like nothing had happened. But it was obvious that the situation had changed; more precisely, Edward had changed.

She couldn't tell why exactly, but it was obvious Edward was different from the kid Roy had brought with him. This kid had changed the Colonel's life and, why not, everyone's lives. But now they had lost him, and Riza was afraid they would lose Roy, too. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed.

The Lieutenant wiped a golden lock away from Edward's face and smiled warmly when it twitched at the touch. However, she had to jump from her seat and grab her gun when the doorknob moved; then she relaxed when she heard keys moving. The door swung open and Roy got in quickly, locking the door again behind him.

"Colonel," She said, putting down the gun, "I didn't see you taxing arriving."

He nodded as he dropped his coat, "I didn't come by taxi, sorry about that."

"So," Riza began when Roy sat down in the bed at Ed's side, "What did you find out?"

The Colonel remained quiet for a moment staring at Edward, emotionless. She just waited until he had his thoughts sorted out. "I need to get that book," he said flatly.

"But Hughes said–"

Roy shook his head. "We have to look for it. It's the only chance we've got. That woman didn't know anything useful."

Riza gave him a significant look, "You're not suggesting that we break into Headquarters, are you?"

"No, of course not." Roy grabbed his jaw. "Because they don't have it."

This time, the Lieutenant just stared at him waiting for an explanation. Just the day before Hughes had confirmed that his house was searched and the book was nowhere to be found, so why did he say…?

"If they'd found it, they would had started looking for me and Hughes would have known. They haven't, so they didn't find anything incriminatory."

Of course. Riza took a deep breath and took a seat, now more relaxed. One thing less to worry about at least, or so she thought.

"I'm pretty sure I had it at home," Roy said in low voice with his hand still on his jaw, "So that means…"

The blonde woman blinked a few times, but when Roy's charcoal eyes rested on Edward, she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"He must have taken it, but now we can't ask him," The Colonel hissed dropping his hand, which had turned into a fist.

Riza's eyes saddened. Even thought Edward could be conscious, he didn't talk at all or seem to understand when he was being spoken to. So, even if Roy asked, it would be useless, and that was killing him. Suddenly, a knock on the door made them both flinch. The Colonel stood up and approached the door to take a look through the peek hole, and then he immediately opened it.

"Hey Boss, I brought some food," Havoc cheerfully said, getting inside the room with some bags. However, his mood dropped when he saw Roy's hollow smile.

"Thanks Havoc."

The Lieutenant placed the bags over the table and glanced at the kid, "Still sleeping, is he?"

Riza nodded. "Did you get any information?"

"Sure I did," Havoc said as he took a seat and grabbed a cigarette... which was snatched by Roy quickly. He only growled in response. "They still think we're in the North; the Major General is being questioned, according to Major Armstrong."

Roy gave a dark chuckle. "She is so going to kill me."

"Falman said officers went to your place one more time," Havoc continued as he grabbed a piece of bread, "But they left empty handed again."

Riza's eyes widened. "They went again?"

"Yes, Falman now is watching your house. Breda and Fuery have asked Schieska to look for the book, but she is pretty sure there's no copy left at the National Library

Roy glanced at Havoc and drew a smile, "I don't deserve such loyalty."

Havoc shrugged. "Maybe you don't," he began as he pointed a finger towards Ed, "but he does."

The Colonel chuckled and then stood up walking toward the window. Both Lieutenant just followed him with the eyes waiting until he said something. "I should go home and look for myself."

Riza shook her head, "You can't do that unless you're sure you will find it."

The dark haired man took a deep breath, "I have some secret spots that I'm sure they didn't search. I don't remember hiding the book there, but I should check them anyway."

"It's too risky, Boss." Havoc warned him, "Like Falman, someone may be watching your house."

"I'll be careful." He said flatly as he grabbed the blond wig, "Please, take care of Edward."

Both Lieutenant just sighed and nodded watching how the Colonel hurried toward the door and left the room.

……………………

And he was careful. He got inside from the back of the house and did his best to search with the lights off, but since he opened one of his secret spots – moving a piece of wood of the floor – he had to use a hand lamp. As he took out the documents he had hidden, his hopes of finding the book there were vanishing; the only stuff he had there were his research about the human transmutation, from when he had still been convinced he could bring his parents back from the death.

His face grimaced at the memory remembering how he had really believed he could bring them back and how he had cowardly dropped everything… from fear. Although he now was sure he had made the right decision, he couldn't help but feel like a damn coward.

Trying to sweep those thoughts away, he put the piece of wood he had removed back in its place and hurried upstairs to the room he used as a small warehouse, he removed another piece of wood and grabbed some documents but he immediately sighed; the book wasn't there either.

He sat down in the floor and leaned his back on the wall. He had to think clearly; if Edward grabbed the book and the Military already searched the entire house and it was nowhere to be found, where could it be then?

"Think. _Think_." Roy whispered bumping his fist against his forehead a few times, "What would Edward do with that kind of book?"

He probably should have hidden the book better, but it had been a while since he took it that he forgot. Idiot. Well, he couldn't do anything about that now and he better focused on finding it. However, he suddenly stopped at the sound of something hitting the window. He hid and took a peek, but he sighed when he saw Fuch scratching the window trying to get in the house.

"Hello there," he greeted the fox as he opened the window, "You shouldn't be here." The animal approached Roy and he petted him. The fox seemed fine so Pinako's kids should have been taking good care of him. "You're lucky one, aren't you?"

Roy stood up and walked around the house, his arms folded. He had looked everywhere he could think of inside the house, so it had to be somewhere else. Damn it.

"You should go, Fuch. I don't want Alphonse or Winry to come here."

The fox just stared at him so he sighed and patted the animal. He would have to go back empty handed; it was too risky for him to be there when anyone could get inside.

"Don't follow me, alright?" the man warned it as he walked toward the back door. However, when he was about to twist the doorknob, he heard something at the front door. "Damn!"

Roy jumped to hide himself behind a book shelve and took a peek to see someone at the window figuring out how to get in the house. Fortunately, it was just Alphonse looking for Fuch.

"Fuch!" He heard the kid whisper through the glass. "Are you there?!"

He saw, slightly amused, that the kid seemed to be worried, so he decided to step in and let Al notice him inside. The kid's eyes widened for a second as Roy walked toward the door and opened it.

"Mr. Mustang!" Al muttered almost stammering. Roy wasn't supposed to be there and less with Fuch at his side! "Hi! I thought you were up North."

"I was indeed. And everyone thinks I'm still there, so this will be our secret, ok?"

Alphonse stared at him for a moment, but then he smiled and nodded, "Ok, I won't say anything. I just came to look for Fuch. Now I understand why he came."

Roy grabbed the fox and handed it to Al. "I won't come in a while, so please take care of him for a while."

"Why? Will you go back to the North?" The kid asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Not precisely, but I'll be back soon. You should go home now."

Al just nodded again and turned around as he headed toward his home, but then, Roy flinched. "Alphonse! Wait!"

The kid looked back and approached Roy again, but he saw, confused, how the man kneeled and signaled him to get closer.

"I wanted to ask you something." He almost whispered. "Did Edward show you a book that it was supposed to be confidential?"

Alphonse flinched at the question and blinked a few times not sure what he was supposed to say. Will it get him in trouble?

"I don't care that he showed it to you, I just want to know if you happened to know where it could be." Roy explained when he noticed the hesitation in the boy's eyes.

Finally, Al nodded unsure. "He showed a book to me and left it at home."

His eyes twitched and felt strong feeling of relief on his chest. How come he didn't think of this before? "I'll need it back. Someone is going to pick it up later, ok?"

"Ok, Mr. Mustang." Al agreed still uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, I meant to return it before, but you were gone and–"

"It's ok, Alphonse, really." Roy assured him, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder, "Just don't tell anybody you had it. It was my mistake and it could be dangerous if someone found out. Now go home."

The boy nodded with a faint smile and turned around to leave. Roy then got inside the house and closed the door quickly to leave through the back door.

……………..

"Are you sure nobody saw you?"

Breda narrowed his eyes and snorted. "Yes, I'm sure."

Riza just bit her lip. She hadn't agreed to ask Breda to go and pick up the book in the middle of the day, but Roy still had done it. Of course she was as desperate to bring Ed back as he was, but they were hanging by a thread there. A dangerously thin thread. She saw how Roy opened the book and began to go through the pages, stopping here or there occasionally.

Finally, the Colonel stopped and held the book tighter, reading as fast as he could.

"Did you find it?"

"Yes," he nodded, "I'm pretty sure this is the array she used. I need to check it with the other books I brought."

The three just watched how Roy opened a few more books and began to compare information. Breda and Havoc looked at each other.

"I should go. I have to help Fuery intercept the Headquarters communications," Breda announced as he grabbed a bag.

Riza nodded. "Be sure to call if you hear anything significant."

Havoc stood up. "I'll go too. I'll be with Falman."

Both men left the room and Riza closed the door. She wasn't sure if she should stay or not, but seeing how Roy was so lost in the books, she decided to stay. She took a seat on the bed and watched how the Colonel went through pages and pages, making notes every now and then, so she remained silent.

-------------

When Roy opened his eyes, he straightened up violently and looked around. When he had fallen asleep? What time it was? He glanced at the clock and it read 10:34 at night. Well, he had only slept an hour at least. He sighed and sat down to fix the mess of books and sheets he had made. However, he suddenly stopped when he noticed he was being watched by Edward. The kid was standing on his left just staring at him like he was curious, but since he didn't wear any expression, he wasn't sure what was he doing there.

"Hey kiddo, how long have you been there?" Roy asked him trying his best to give him a warm smile. He glanced back, noticed Riza sleeping in the bed and then looked back to the kid.

Ed blinked a few times, but then he took a seat at Roy's side and threw a look to the book over the table. Confused, Mustang reached the book for him to place it right in front of him. Much to his surprise, Edward grabbed the book and opened it. Was he…?

"Edward?"

No response. Roy scratched his head and opened the book he was supposed to be reading when he fell asleep. He began to write some notes, but he noticed Ed doing the same. What was he doing? Still baffled, he continued his labor only to see how the blonde was doing the same as him, his eyes bouncing from the book to him.

"You're just doing what I'm doing." Roy said to himself in a pity voice, but still, he managed to smile to the boy. He felt how his heart almost squeezed when Ed imitated his smile. Well, at least it was something. However, he almost jumped when the kid flinched violently and his eyes widened. "Edward? What's wrong?"

The blonde glanced at Roy. "The Philosopher's Stone." He said with an empty voice.

The raven-haired man stared at him for a brief moment, trying to deciding whether he had hallucinated or not. "What?"

The child didn't answer, but he furrowed his brows. Roy grabbed him from the shoulders with his eyes wide open.

"The Philosopher's Stone? Do you want it?"

In response, Ed stood up and walked across the room to one spot in a corner. Roy hurried after him and removed a piece of the wooden floor where he had hidden a little box with the Philosopher Stone inside. The moment Roy opened the box, the kid snatched the stone.

"What do you want to do with it?" He asked the blonde although he knew it was in vain.

Edward held the stone for a moment just staring at it, but then, he offered it to Roy.

"Me?" The man glanced at it briefly not convinced. He didn't like to have _that_ in his hand, but Ed insisted, moving the stone closer to him. "Alright."

Roy moved his hand toward Ed, his eyes shifting from the kid to the stone. He didn't know why, but he had a weird feeling about this. And he wasn't wrong. The moment he touched the Philosopher Stone, everything went black.

-------------


End file.
